If you haven’t realized by now, I tend to shy away from discussing the various political issues surrounding the MTA. I like to stick around in the history zone, and talk more about art and photography-related things. If you want politics and opinions, and can stomach about ten advertisement banners per page (my personal faves are the animated fat loss banners of the sketch-woman clenching a fatty gut in her hands), Second Avenue Sagas is probably the place for you.

However, we’ve almost completed the first week with our new MTA big boss Joe Lhota (albeit unofficially, until confirmed by the senate in January), and I had to say something. The media is scrutinizing his first moves in the big chair (fare hikes in 2013!), but I had to say, I liked this one article that I found: New MTA chief Joe Lhota calls on prosecutors to throw book at riders who attack transit workers. I think that is a good a place as any to start. What you probably do know from reading my blog, is that I do have a tremendous amount of respect for train conductors (I’m not going to say employees, as you all know there others that I do not hold in such high esteem). They are on the front lines, the public face of the company, and they deal with idiots for a good portion of their days. Many get significant compensation for this work, but it is a tradeoff for having few days off and transporting your drunk ass home on holidays like New Years.

In the summer when there was the New Haven Line incident of the stuck train near Greens Farms (which I never really said much about, either), passengers were furious. And one of the reasons was because during the incident the conductors hid in their cabs, or reportedly removed their uniforms. I always found myself giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming that they weren’t being shitty employees – they were just afraid of what a train full of irate passengers could do. I want to know what the statistics are for conductors that have been assaulted by passengers. And the sad thing is, that I would guess it is probably in the 90% range, if not higher. There have been broken noses, broken fingers, employees that have been hit with umbrellas, spit on, or had a glass bottle broken over their face when sticking their head out the cab window. And these are just stories that I know. I certainly support stiffer penalties for that sort of thing – I don’t care what job you’re in. You shouldn’t be doing that stuff to fellow human beings (or even animals for that matter!) I’d also be okay with a new MTA slogan of “ride the goddamn train/bus/subway and don’t be an asshole” but somehow I don’t think that would go over too well.

Every once and a while I get an email from some person looking for high resolution copies of what train tickets look like. I wonder if people are really that stupid… but no, by now this doesn’t really surprise me. What legitimate use would people want this for? There aren’t any. These people are looking to make forgeries. While I generally just delete emails like this outright, there are the occasional times where I want to send them photographs of really old tickets. If they believed me, and attempted a forgery, it would probably give a conductor a good laugh. I mean, what would you say if some guy tried to use this on the train today?

 
And that is actually not that old

Ignoring the dimwit forgers, it is actually quite interesting to look at the evolution of tickets, just as it is to look at old timetables. I will admit that I have quite a few more timetables than I do tickets, cash fares and the like. But all the same, they are fun to look at. Below are some of the ones that I have and have scanned. Do you have any old Harlem Division tickets? I would love to see them… please email me! Then we can have a part two, because I’m apparently in love with multi-part posts.

Yesterday the New York Post reports that Metro-North and LIRR may be phasing out yet another thing to save money: the discounts for buying tickets online. I have to admit though, I am curious: how many people have actually used Web Ticket? It has been around for a few years… I’ve used it a few times. But the one and only reason why I have is because of those discounts. Hell, they even market the whole thing by saying “Welcome to a convenient way to buy Metro-North train tickets for less.” Would people still use Web Ticket if there were no discounts? Anyone have thoughts on that? I don’t think I’d use it. There are quite a few people out there that need to buy their ticket from an actual person, they won’t use the machines. And certainly they wouldn’t use Web Ticket. But people that buy from Web Ticket probably have no issues buying from one of the many ticket machines available. And isn’t that more convenient? Buying the ticket when you need it, and not worry about the ticket taking a few days to come in the mail? The Mail and Ride system is separate, being subscribed and not having to buy the ticket on your own is convenient… and I imagine people would still use this service.

Another proposed change would effect returning tickets: a small fee will be charged, instead of being free. I suppose I can understand this, and so many places nowadays won’t accept returns period. Or they charge fees of an arm and a leg, and possibly your first-born child. Most people don’t even realize you can return tickets.

The possible elimination of off-peak fares remains the big change. Apparently more information will be revealed next week, after the MTA has their monthly board meeting.

For Metro-North commuters, we have survived the service changes that were enacted three weeks ago. June 21st marked the cancellations of a few trains, and most, if not all, ten car trains were reduced to eight cars. Both of my trains, in the morning and evening, were ten car trains. According to Metro-North, the trains had enough seats for all of the passengers, it was just a matter of whether the passengers wanted to use them. And you know I am referring to that hated middle seat. For the first few days I witnessed many people choose to stand in the aisle, preferring standing than sitting in the middle. Although many have begun to suck it up, there are still those that complain to the conductors, or make it difficult for people entering and exiting the train by standing in front of the doors.

In my opinion, it is about time to get used to it. Complaining to the conductors accomplishes nothing. But for those of us riding on the Harlem Line (and probably the Hudson), we have it pretty good. We’re not the transit system, we didn’t have any lines or routes cancelled. I’ve been on trains where every seat was taken, and the entire aisle was filled with people. Literally packed in like sardines in a can. But that incident was a fluke, caused by a broken down and ultimately cancelled train. These are not our normal trains.

I am probably going to get shit for this comment, but we also aren’t the New Haven Line. The New Haven Line has been plagued with issues and delays recently, from a minor derailment in Stamford, to yesterday’s debacle where all four tracks were shut down outside of Greenwich. The possible cause of the issue was the recent heat wave – causing the catenary wires to sag. In many of these situations riders are suggested to attempt to get to the Harlem Line. Riders with New Haven Line monthly passes have been showing up on Harlem Line trains, hoping to at least get to White Plains to transfer to a BeeLine bus, or get picked up. The changes three weeks ago were not that bad. We still have it pretty good…

But then again, the talk has already begun about what will happen in 2011. Changes that could bring around a 7.5% fare hike. While again, most of this affects the subway: a $1 service change for Metro Cards, and a cap on unlimited tickets. But the major concern for Metro-North riders will be the considered elimination of off-peak fares. Although commuters that buy monthly or weekly tickets would not be affected, one-way, round-trip and ten trip tickets may cost more. Metro-North has been trying hard to encourage ridership for reasons other than going to work, most especially with their Train to the Game service. It is these riders, and weekend riders, that will be most effected by the change. If you’re riding from the terminus of the Harlem Line, Wassaic, the elimination of off-peak service would cost you $10.50 for a round trip ticket, for a total price of $40.50. Riders from Southeast will end up paying $7.50 more, for a total of $30 dollars on a round trip ticket. And of course, this is if fares stay the same. If they are increased by the estimated 7.5%, that means round trip from Wassaic would cost $43.50, and from Southeast $32.25.

If you buy a monthly ticket to ride Metro North then I am certain you noticed the increase in fare on your July monthly. We all knew it was coming, and I guess I am happy that the increase was not nearly as bad as it was supposed to be. Anyways, I always wonder about people who take the train down from Wassaic to Grand Central. I personally don’t know anyone who does… but there must be at least a few of them. But it is a long and expensive ride…

Before the fare increase:

After the fare increase:

$372 to $412… an increase of $40. Wow…

One of the most amusing things I can do as an owner of a website, is look at my web search statistics. Basically, it shows me what people type into google and other search engines to find my site. Quite often there are some crazy keywords, hence the amusement of looking through this list. So I figued it might be amusing to showcase some of the gold I’ve found, answer some questions, and help some people looking for information that you can’t find at my site. Remember that I am not making any of this up, these are all things that people have typed in.

[insert station name] train station parking / is there a ticket booth at [insert station name] / are there taxis at [insert station name] / directions to [insert station name]
Anything you could possibly want to know about any Metro North train station can be found here. Parking info, fares, ticket booth information, elevator status, taxi info, addresses, etc.

[insert station name] schedules / time tables / what time is the train?
MTA has a great schedule system here. You enter in your stations and the time you want to leave/arrive, and it will tell you what trains are available, how long they will be, and whether it is a peak hour train.

Brewster North train station
You’re looking for Southeast. Brewster North was renamed to Southeast several years ago.

Is the harlem line better then the new haven line?
I found it amusing that you had to ask! Of course the Harlem Line is better! Alright, alright, perhaps I am biased. The New Haven line does have barcars, and the blogging train conductor to the stars, Bobby, but we here on the Harlem Line have some pretty cool guys too.

I saw a bus run over a pigeon 2009 / I saw a pigeon run under a bus
Ah, good old pigeons. You must have found the site after I told the story of flattened pigeon. Alas, I didn’t see the actual event, only the aftermath, so I can provide you with no further information.

What is the font used on the grand central train schedules?
This one I know! The good majority of MTA signage and such is done in Helvetica. The station name signs, for example, are in Helvetica Bold Oblique… which is what I used for some very official looking cue cards…

The swine flu is it close to harlem?
Will you begin to panic if I say yes? One silly post about the swine flu, and it looks like everybody is in panic mode. But hey, at least my prediction didn’t come true after all!

Sexy guy with hat on
Hmm… I don’t know exactly what you are looking for, sorry. Do you think train conductor’s hats are sexy? I do have a few pictures of Guy wearing his conductor’s hat… I even have a picture of my dog wearing a conductor’s hat… if you’re into that kinda thing.

Man telling amusing train story with noises
What kinds of noises were these? If they were quacking noises, that might be Curley. Whom I prefer call “The Quack Quack Man.”

Weirdos in penn station
Don’t have any of those yet… I am more of a Grand Central kind of girl. But hey, if I ever see any weirdos the next time I do go over to Penn Station, I’ll certainly let you guys know.

Metro north conductor blog
The only one I am aware of is Derailed, run by the aforementioned New Haven Line conductor,  Bobby. It is a great read, I highly reccomend it.

Mta bee line buses / bee line bus phone number / harlembeelinebus
Check out the Bee Line Bus website here for anything you want to know about them. As far as I know, they are not part of MTA, although they will accept Metro Cards.

Anybody know what happened at the north entrance of grand central
Nope, what happened?

How do you deter pigeons from building nests?
Can’t help you there, sorry. I am always amused by failure in this department, hence the Pigeons: 1, Humans: 1, post. Putting spikes and such in areas pigeons like to nest never really seems to work all that well.

Metro north conductor photos
Why do you ask? Are you feeling a bit stalkerish? To my knowledge I only have a picture of one conductor, and he was aware that it was going to go on my blog. I don’t really want to put pictures of people up without their previous knowledge. So sorry, no “MTA train conductors hot or not” or “MTA Conductors gone wild” here on this blog.

Really though, it is bad enough that I attract creepy people on the train, apparently I do on the blog as well! Whoever typed in “[insert my full name] sex” in google, go fuck yourself, thanks.

Public transportation stories / Metro north railroad blog / Funny people on rides
Well, I am glad that you find this page actually looking for what I am trying to write. I hope you enjoyed some of the craziness here, and definitely come back.