Idiots of the Week: L Train Riders
Well, folks, the Idiot of the Week Award has returned. This week’s Idiot is not just one person - but several thousand. Congratulations, L Train Riders, you are this week’s Idiots of the Week!
Really, I should be more specific. Not all L Train Riders are to blame for having this award bestowed on them; roughly 4,000 of them are actually to blame. Why? Because they’re the ones who filled out Rider Report Cards for the L Train - and gave the L Train a “C.“ A “C?” Are you serious? Have you people ridden the L Train at all? Even the 7 Train got a C-, and I’ve almost never had a problem on the 7! Yes, the L has shiny new trains, but that’s about the only thing that line has going for it. It’s constantly crowded, consistently inconsistent, and seems to have more breakdowns than Meg White.
The most baffling result of the survey was the L Train’s grade for “adequate room at rush hour” was only a “D.” Are these people riding the same trains I am? Apparently not, because unless “adequate room at rush hour” means “having exactly ten square inches space in the train every fucking morning,” I can’t see how anyone could give a grade higher than an “F.” Have these riders never noticed that by the time an L Train gets to Williamsburg, a Tokyo-subway-style stuffing of the train takes place at every stop? Have these riders never noticed that no other subway line is like this? What planet do these people live on?
Maybe those damn hipsters prefer quietly judging, so they didn’t take the survey. Or maybe everyone who lives along the L is so content with their lives in Brooklyn that they think giving someone an “F” is just not a nice thing to do. Either way, way to go, L Train Riders, for giving MTA a pat on the back that they don’t deserve. You are truly the Idiots of the Week!
This entry was posted on Friday, September 28th, 2007 at 9:03 am and is filed under Subway Stupidity, Idiot of the Week. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 28th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
j$ says:i’m sure if you live way out in brooklyn and get a seat on the L it’s a lovely trip. the 4/5/6 line is just as crowded in the AM (and moreso in offpeak times).
September 28th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
brookLyn gaL says:I don’t even live off of the L train anymore, and I still took the time to grade it as poorly as possible!
September 28th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Reverb says:I’ve lived on both 4-5-6 and L lines, and I can tell you that the L is a significantly worse train to ride during the morning rush hour. Compare the bedford / 1st ave L stops to the 68th street 6 stop during AM rush: both stops are the last residential pick-up zones before riders begin to get off. At 68 street, there are always crowded trains where riders occasionally have to let 1 train go by due to overcrowding. At bedford, a typical morning commute means that a rider will let 2 trains go by before pushing their way onto a crowded L. This is not occasional, but every morning. Many trains dont even open their doors and skip bedford/1st/3rd when they are running behind. At least many 6 riders have the option of taking the express 4-5. L riders are screwed to the single option.
September 28th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Ed says:I was also going to say that the 4-5-6 is as crowded as the L, but I’ve changed my mind, partly for the reasons Reverb says.
First, there is a significant amount of churn at each station on the 4, 5, and 6 since it goes through multiple business districts. If I get on at 59th Street, yes at 42nd Street a ton of people will get on, crowding the train further, but some people will get off and I might be able to grab a seat. On the L, everyone is pretty much going to Union Square and each stop just means more people squeezing in.
Second, the 6 is always much less crowded than the 4 and 5, so if it gets really bad on the Express you can switch to the local, at least until City Hall. If the train breaks down or is really slow, its possible to get on another line at each station. The only way to get between Manhattan and Williamsburg by train is the L, one reason I don’t go to Williamsburg anymore.
But the Lexington Avenue line is still pretty damn crowded. The official MTA measurement shows it to more overcapacity than the L, for what its worth. And you are always guaranteed to get a panhandler, a preacher, someone treating their ipod as a ghetto blaster, and/ or a group of tourists who have no idea about subway etiquette on each and every commute.
I think the people who gave the L a “C” are Brooklyn riders who never use it to try to get to Manhattan.
September 28th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
TeoNYC says:Do we know where the surveys were handed out? Maybe the respondents boarded in Canarsie and not Williamsburg? That would explain why they wouldn’t think the trains were over crowded.
September 28th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
jane21 says:oh how I wish I was included in rating this train - whatever the poorest score could be - double it and it still would not be enough - try taking this train at the First Avenue stop - if you are lucky to get a train that actually stops you can’t get on it - who are these people - do they all work for the MTA that rated this train????
September 28th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Nick says:I think that the question about adequate seating during rush hour would have been represented more accurately if the “rush hour” time span had been identified. I imagine a lot of people taking the train at 10:30 still classify their commute as rush hour.
I get on at Lorimer between 9:00 and 10:00. There have been a couple of instances when I’ve had to wait for the next train because of overcrowding, but they’ve been rare. Though, I agree that the level of crowding is unacceptable. Thank God for being tall.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
montewarden says:Well they truly are idiots. They have a chance to be honest and get improvements and they blew it. They deserve their commute!
September 29th, 2007 at 11:09 am
janelle says:TeoNYC raises an important point: not everyone riding the L boards at bedford. additionally, not everyone has the same rush hour. not everyone is going to be as harsh or as generous as others in their marks, hence the C. part of living in the city, particularly as population along the L increases, is to consider that the system itself does have a limited capacity. look at freeways in this country - the wider they are built and the more they build, the more traffic there seems to be! to me, the L isn’t much different - there are just a lot of people using the trains at peak hours. in my experience, during rush hours many other trains can be similarly packed. it’s just the nature of the beast.
September 30th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
laura says:I laughed out loud at the Meg White comment.
I love the L because it’s new and tells you how long until the next train, which, although rather useless, is pretty cool. And I like the route it follows.
But I HATE the wait and the fact that it’s always crowded with hipsters in ridiculous clothing.
September 30th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Dirck the Noorman says:L train is super crowded at 8:30am. At 7:45 its empty.
October 1st, 2007 at 12:16 am
anon says:e train is just as crowded
October 1st, 2007 at 7:14 am
Steve says:You got this just right. I ride a lot of subways during morning commutes and NOTHING compares to the terrible conditions of the L. The 4-5-6, the 7, and the E simply don’t have the packed cattle car conditions that the L has every single morning.
Rather than simply complain however I propose the following solution - every other inbound train should skip 1st and 3rd avenue, and every third train should skip Bedford Avenue. That should increase train trip times slightly.
3rd Avenue in particular is simply a waste of everyone’s time - maybe 1 in 10 times do I see a single person getting off there.
October 1st, 2007 at 5:14 pm
matt says:The L train sucks in the morning. I have to take it once in a while and its the worst experience ever. Thankfully I take the J train most of the time. If I had to ride the L every morning, i’d be forced to punch someone. People just don’t seem to realize there’s no room in the train anymore! STOP PUSHING INTO THE TRAIN, YUPPIE IDIOT WITH COFFEE CUP!
And for those morons in the middle of the train car who refuse to move in to let other people board…WAKE UP AND MOVE TO THE CENTER OF THE SUBWAY CAR! Jesus Christ..imagine the L train in a year or two. It’s gonna be SO MUCH BETTER!
Where the hell is Mayor Bloomberg?? Does he have a clue??
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:04 pm
janine says:The 4/5 and the F in Brooklyn are both insanely overcrowded and beyond capacity during rush hours.
I really wish more businesses would stagger their hours to alleviate congestion during rush hour, or let more people telecommute for at least part of the week.
October 29th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
paul says:i’m sorry, the 4/5 is more crowded than the L hands down. the difference is that trains come every 30 seconds on the lex, so sometimes you get lucky and have a little more space. also, riders weren’t given the option of giving an F grade