Dear MTA,
I hate to complain, but if we’re all being open and honest here, I can’t help but address some issues about your service. Although I am incredibly grateful that you provide the means for me to travel everywhere throughout New York City at an affordable price (compare $2.75 to the Metro North or LIRR), there are still some underlying issues that I have.
For starters, let’s take about this price increase. I understand that repairs are costly and there has to be a way to gain addition funding for you to undertake these projects. But aside from using our money to make new subway lines (the Second Aveune Q line was the best thing to happen to the Upper East Side), repair damages, improve technology and many other things, you should also work on fixing the little things that seem to piss us off the most.
One thing being, broken turnstiles that don’t read your card after a swipe. If I spend close to $120 per month to get unlimited swipes around New York City, I should be able to get just that. I don’t want to see “Please swipe again” or “Just Used,” especially when my card isn’t bent or if it hasn’t even been used. There comes a point when this is extremely annoying and if necessary, I’m not afraid to hop the turnstiles.
Did you ever think that a quick wipe down of the poles would be worth it? To think that New York City is already one of the dirtiest cities in the world, maybe some improvements should be made. Thousands of people ride the subway on the daily. Just imagine how many germs collect on the daily! I'm not saying New Yorkers should prepare themselves to watch janitors clean the subway from head to toe. It would just give many of us some peace of mind if there was a slight chance of having some sort of cleaning service during the off-peak hours.
The icing on the cake has to be all of the delays and technical difficulties of the subway system. Delays, no matter how inevitable they are they seem to happen more and more often, especially during the most inconvenient times in our lives. If you ask me, a subway line shouldn't be shut down at 8 a.m. on a weekday due to "signal problems." At that point I find myself questioning where exactly have the millions of dollars the MTA collects go to; after all, it's 2017 and all of these signals should be advanced and up-to-date.
It's unfortunate that during the many times we ride on New York's most popular and confusing attraction, we seem to only remember the much too often miserable rides. Although these terrible flaws of the MTA lead to great stories, it affects our travel time and our sanity. One thing is for sure: if there's going to be a price increase, make it worth it. Less subway traffic, more on-time service, cleaner stations, working turnstiles, escalators and audible train speakers are just some of the finer qualities many of us New Yorkers hope our future $3.00 dollar subway ride will contribute to.
Sincerely,
75 percent of New Yorkers
