My Transit Post
I guess I should relate my horrible commute to work this morning because the MTA workers have decided to strike. But I won’t, because I had a very nice time.
I walked through Central Park, and although my knees were sore (they don’t like the cold) it was a very pleasant walk, and I don’t mind having to do it again.
I am, however, very tired from walking a bunch. I better lose some weight from all this.
Christmas this year is going to be interesting…
12/10/2005
More train talk, sort of
So the contract between the MTA and the workers’ unions is coming up on December 15th. If the workers don’t get more than what they’re being offered, they go on strike, meaning that millions (yes, millions) of people won’t be able to get to work. As of yesterday morning, the offer stood at a two-year contract, with a 3% raise the first year and a possible 2% raise (if the workers have been good boys and girls) the second year. In a city where you are very lucky to only have a 3.5% rent increase a year, this is pitiful.
I don’t like the word ‘raise’ being your basic increase of income. Every worker needs a basic cost of living increase just to be able to deal with their rent, which is ridiculously high to begin with around here. Then, if you have been doing a good job, you deserve a little more - whether it’s a higher salary, more benefits, a party, something. I know that puts a burden on employers, but if your workers are doing work for the common good, then the common good (in this case, the company) should give a little back. Again, it doesn’t always have to be a higher salary. Employers can be creative. Of course, that can sometimes backfire, and the smaller the company is, the harder it can be to favor one person over another, so a company feels it needs to give everyone something. News flash - no you don’t. Unless you have a real sourpuss who needs to grow up, employees can usually tell when someone is doing above and beyond the call of duty and should be rewarded as doing such. And who’s to say that you have to give something to a deserving employee in public? It’s usually company policy not to discuss your salary with anyone affiliated with said company. Same goes with gifts. Don’t ask, don’t tell.
So I guess my point is that the subway and bus workers don’t get a fair break, and they do as good a job as they can (well, most of them…) You have to treat your employees like people, and they might just surprise you as to the work they do. The whole MTA seems to have spread itself too thin, coruption or not, and can’t cover it’s basic costs, so it stiffs its workers who are threatening to slow down severely the city that never sleeps.
As for me, I only have an excuse not to go to work if it’s really bad weather, since technically I can walk there. Time will tell…
12/3/2005
Second Avenue Subway!!!
Now that the Transportation Bill has been passed by the voters of New York, can we please get our asses in gear and (re)start building this line? This week I come back from visiting family in the Midwest only to find that I will be very late going to work for two days straight. On Tuesday, I walked to the train station at 86th and Lexington and saw probably about a hundred people walking around clueless outside of the station.
Some people can’t figure out how to get around Manhattan if they can’t do their usual thing. Everyone should know at least two (preferably three) ways to get to work. If you have to drive to work, figure out a couple of different roads or highways. If you take public transportation, and it’s feasible, figure out as many ways as possible.
Anyway, I didn’t even bother trying to get into the station, and went aross the street to catch the crosstown bus so that I could get a train down the west side. No dice. About as many people were pushing onto those buses. The New York City crosstown busses are essentially two busses connected with a cool accordian-like middle. The back door is so far away from the front door that it’s virtually impossible for the bus driver to monitor what’s going on back there. I hate it when people take advantage of this and sneak on the bus without paying. Around schools, you get the high schoolers doing it; even though most of them don’t have to pay for their transportation, it’s still very annoying. When there are fifty people trying to get on in the back, however, you have chaos, and the city loses money in the deal.
So when I saw all that, I decided to forgo that, as well as any taxi. $5 will get you about 20 blocks, and I needed to go twice that far. It wasn’t a bad day weather-wise, so I decided to walk. Yes, I’m one of the lucky people who live close enough to work to have walking be an option.
So on Wednesday I got to the station, caught a 6 train, and started on my way at a little before 9:00. A little before 10:00 I got off at the next station 9 blocks away. There was a sick passenger on the train, so we were stuck in the tunnel just before the station for an hour, most of that time was without power (no moving air, minimal lighting.) The people who made the most stink about it were those dressed like they had cushy jobs and didn’t need to worry so much about missing some work. There was one woman who almost started crying, and since she had music in front of her, I figured she had an audition. She did have a solo performance, but luckily she could be moved to the end of the program. But who wants to have to do that? After quietly having a (well deserved) mini-breakdown, she decided the only thing she could do was practice a little. And here were these corporate types who were loudly being pissed. I was just pissed that what little reading light there was kept getting blocked by one of the said complainers.
Oh, and I didn’t even talk about the assholes who got off the train and tried going to the staion by walking through the tunnel. And the subway workers had to search the train to see if there was anybody who might get run over. I say, if you’re stupid enough to get out of the train into some dangerous territory, you’re deserving enough to get run over. But then I guess the city would have a few wrongful death suits coming to them.
So we desparately need another subway line on the east side so that there’s another option. I would take the Second Avenue line and not have to deal with the 6 train, supposedly the best train line in New York City, and yet I can’t seem to get to work on time a lot. I catch an earlier train and end up waiting longer, so that doesn’t work.
Update on my voting saga: I got a letter from the office of the Public Advocate which said that I was a registered voter and everything should be fine. The excuses they gave didn’t really apply to me. One was that sometimes a whole page is missing when the voter books get copied. I saw the book and my name should have been in the middle of the page. They also said that sometimes a hyphenated last name gets filed under the wrong name, which makes no sense for my last name (Doering-Dorival) which would be in around the same place anyway. And besides, anyone with a hyphenated last name should be used to saying “Try looking for me under this name…” I’ve decided not to fight it this time, as I have proof that my vote counted. If this happens next year, however, the gloves come off…