The Arbitrary ChuckJerry

Luke is mad at the MTA for their Enronesque accounting practices. Chris has seconded that frustration with an enormously comprehensive argument against the MTA's shady practices. I just wanted to weigh in.

First of all, I agree with all of their frustrations. I don't ride the train on a daily basis any more, but in the 4 or 5 years that I did sporadically ride every day I was frustrated more than once with the service they provide.

My feeling is that the main reason the MTA provides service that is both poor and shady is that they are a monopoly. There's not even a chance of them running into any competition and so they are pushing the margins of their profits by not servicing trains when they should and not properly serving customers because the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who ride the train every day have literally no choice but to ride the train.

MTA supporters are quick to point out that $2.00 to get from the Bronx to Manhattan is one of the best bargains in the city, and it is. Even when they raise the fares to $3.00 or whatever they're going to raise it to, it will still be a good deal. If you're feeling adventurous, you could even go from say Coney Island (in Brooklyn) to Yankee Stadium (in the Bronx) all on one fare. To even get in a cab and go nowhere will cost you $2.50 so it's still the most cost effective option.

One of the MTA's issues is that New York's is the biggest and busiest subway system in the world. It also wasn't originally designed to be all one system, so it's automatically not the most efficient mapping of the city. Given that, though, shouldn't the MTA go out of its way to make those things less noticeable?

The idea that Chris mentions to put the signs up that tell you when the next train is coming would greatly reduce frustrations among riders. The benefits to riders there would far outweigh any costs that the MTA would incur.

The MTA's scope is a lot bigger than I realize on a day to day basis. I knew in the back of my head that they controlled essentially every public transportation system into and within New York City, but when you realize that they oversee the subway, the bus system, the Long Island Railroad and the Metro North trains, then their enormous influence on the city is undeniable. For them to so blatantly misuse that power is inexcusable.