As someone from Los Angeles, at least they have public transit. Try living in a city where a car is THE only way. I'll take NYC Metro over LA's lousy sprawl. The worse part is that other cities are WORSE. America truly messed up its urban planning. I just came back from Tokyo. Their public transit massacres our 3rd world urban planning - not joking.
Bro you're smoking dope lived in LA for 20 years and is one of the better transit systems I've ever been on and I've been. All over the country they have busses on top of busses in L. A,. California has transit literally everywhere you can take public transit from San Diego to to San Francisc if you wanted too. You can get everywhere You need to get in LA. Minus a few of the rich. Parts like Up in the hills So what are you complaining about? You don't even know what bad service is. I'm living in the city like Albuquerque. We're bus is everyday shut down at 6 o'clock. They're going only a few parts of the city and they don't run on weekends or holidays in most of the time you have to have an. Uber to actually take you to a lot of the destinations You would want to go to then come back and tell me how horrible LA is wow people need to wake up and realize that transit in California. Some of the best in the country
@@CrazyHomelessWeirdo Clearly you're trolling. Born and raised in LA. SoCal has one of the worse transit systems in our country. If you're miserable in NM just say that. There's a reason why I still live in Los Angeles - but to lie and say our public transit is good is quite laughable.
@Jay Cee Cruz clearly you have not traveled and seen the awful transit systems in the other parts of the US. I mean let's see in LA you not only have metro you have city buses like culvert city and Santa Monica buses as well as Santa clarita the entire san gabriel valley has its own transit system as well as metro's There's still service in parts of san gabriel valley On top of that pasadena has a little transit system as well as core burbank has the transit system of its own. Not only that but we also have the orangge line to take us across of alleys between north hollywood and Chatsworth As well as the red line the green line in the blue line and rail system long Beach also has a transit system. Not to mention all the different commuter buses all over la as well as the dash and la metro still serves parts of the cities that have there own transit. Then on top the you have the metrolink a commuter train to take you to different cities around Southern Cali. Most of the transit runs every 20 to 30 on top of that. So again what part of la has lousy transit.
As someone who has lived in NYC my whole life, the subway can be rancid sometimes but it's honestly reliable and fast and I used to love memorizing all of the different subway lines as a kid. I think you have to appreciate the way it is and how it contributes to New York, and all of the dirty things you mentioned are easy to avoid as a frequent rider. Also I think the bus is a lot slower and it can get even more packed and jolty with traffic, so the subway is way more convenient imo
From Russian Subscribers Subways world over are clean n safe 24/7. AMERIKA urban areas are becoming cesspools n many areas as your nation is in a cataclysmic decline because of your liberal Progressive Leftists who have destroyed your nation from within. God 1st Yuliya ❤️🇷🇺⛪✝️ Here in VAST CENTRAL ASIA Leftists are repressed to keep us safe.
It's the most hectic, nerve-wracking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing... The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country? JOHN ROCKER!
Foolish Long Giang Please visit Wonderful clean Subways here in Asia China Japan North Korea Russia n worldwide. Your ignorant of your ignorance of the world outside declining Amerika Yuliya Singapore 🇷🇺⛪✝️🇸🇬
As a lifelong New Yorker, I've experienced the subway as a passenger, as a transit worker, as a Train Operator and as a retired employee. I've seen this system at its best and its worst. I can say that today's subways is in better shape than it was in the 70's. It still has a way to go, but I think that if properly funded, the subway will see better days ahead.
One thing about NYC compared to other places is how isolated subways are in terms of services and financial upkeep. Not all stations, but most. MTA seems to care only about trains/buses whereas other places (especially Asia) take into consideration everything around the subway as one single business. The “metro” in a basic Tokyo or Hong Kong neighborhood for examples includes bathrooms, convenience stores, restaurants, a mall above ground, a skyscrapers sometimes. Each station is run like a business. When a station is part of a larger complex there is more reason to look after them because they basically pay for themselves and even make profit. Nyc needs to start building paid bathrooms and even showers and rent out all the empty useless room underground then it’ll improve and even make money. Too much wasted real estate.
It wasn't suppose to be like that in the '70's. But it was. This is the reason that you feel the NYC subway is in better shape today. Back then it was dark and dingy and dangerous. But it was not as dirty and did not smell rancid. The ventilation system is outdated, implemented many decades ago. The darkness and safety issue is not difficult to resolve. But to give the system an overhaul would be not impossible but unlikely. If the ground traffic except service vehicles in NYC can be eliminated, above ground alternative rail system can be constructed. That would make use of the underground archaic. It would be as fast and convenient, but much more pleasant. The bus service would operate along side. This would be worth funding...at least in Manhattan for now. Then perhaps later expand further into the outer boros.
@@wip1664 Three things happened that bought the subways to a grinding halt... WWII, Robert Moses and Pres. Ford. With the US getting involved in the war effort, all projects for upgrades and expansion were put on hold. City planner Robert Moses vision for New York was bridges, tunnels and expressways. He had no patience for minorities or public transportation. He didn't want the subway to go to the World's Fair. So the subways were again pushed to the back burner. In the 70's, NYC was on the brink of bankruptcy. President Ford told us to kick rocks. Look up NY Daily News headline 'Ford To NY: Drop Dead'.. Ever since, we've been playing catch up.
As a tourist, I think NYC Subway is so convenient. You can literally go from point A to point B fastly. NYC Subway connects every corner of NYC. I like it.
But don't you feel that people living there need improvement, better service? At least some people... I agree with you that the subway is better than driving - more convenient, faster, safer. Don't have to look for parking!
That truly summarizes the NYC subway. When I landed in NYC a year ago I was scared and appalled by the state of affairs of the subway. But once I started using it on a daily basis, I truly appreciate the scale of infrastructure and the level of service. Where else can you zip across in express trains across the whole of the city 24*7. I have sat in squeaky clean subway systems across the world and know how painful it can be going from one end to the other when trains stop at a station every 30 seconds. I was astonished that express trains are a norm in NYC allowing me to rapidly move across this massive city without having to stop every 30 seconds at a station until I reach my destination. In terms of the scale of infrastructure and the level of service,it was and truly is world class!
And I don't care that you have to move through mountains of garbage with sleeping and aggressive homeless people, right? If yes, then I don't understand you - I'm used to the level of service as in the Moscow metro.
4:50 it wasn’t Hindi Drew. It’s Bengali. I love it see it as I’m Bengali as well. I don’t live in NY but I know there are thousands of Bangladeshi live in Queens area.
What’s really depressing is NYC is the best transit system in America. Let me repeat that. The NYC is the best. This old dilapidated, slow and aging system is the best because of America’s heavily car centric infrastructure. It could easily be world class but the system isn’t funded and the laws make it hard to make any improvements.
Well who would fund it? Maybe at the state level like highways and roads are? Funding for transit systems really varies by city and state LA for instance received most of its funding locally through bonds, with a few federal grants. SF's trains get more directly from the state. NYCs system is unique in that it is so expensive to upgrade and build there, and has historically received more funding from the federal government than any other city's metro system. I can just imagine other cities asking for the same level of funding NYC gets from the feds (LA, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, etc.). In a time when politicians are fighting about raising a debt ceiling on spending.
@@danmur2797it needs to be privatized - let multiple companies own it - create 1 system of MetroCard smart card ..watch how clean it would be - yes the government would need to pitch in too ... pretty much how the Tokyo metro is
If you think that the subway in New York is the best in America, then I'm even afraid to imagine the condition of the subway in other American cities. I would even disdain to go there.
I worked for the NYC Subway system for almost 38 years. It’s old, monolithic, cavernous, complicated, dirty and marvelous. After teaching in a Catholic high school for three years (I have two masters degrees and a [online accredited] doctorate). I joined NYC Transit for the pay and benefits. It was an adventure. Most of the workers there are brave, hard-working and dedicated. At times, it’s frustrating and difficult dealing with the crime, filth (many passengers are slobs) and bureaucracy. Overall, it’s (mostly) reliable and super convenient. Without the subway system, NYC would be more so much more unlivable than it is.
No doubt the staff is hard working, and that it reliably moves masses of people around the city. But when taking a look at other subway systems around the globe you start to feel the difference of the trains, the stations, the ride, ...
I remember living in Moscow and their metro is just absolutely amazing. Whoever runs NYC transit would find themselves falling sideways out of window if they were cop performing that way in Moscow.
@@Nick_Garcia2348the only reason people from outside NYC treat the MTA so harshly is because clowns like these explicitly fond over the worst parts for views. Every video like this goes to the same few places and acts like they just happened to run into it by accident. In reality while the MTA is severely flawed it gets the job done. There are things that could and should be done to improve it (MTA owned development to make back costs, upgraded stations with platform screen doors, automation, more transit police) but that doesn’t negate from what it is, the best and fastest way to get around the city. Also the MTA isn’t even the worst subway in the US, that honor goes to the MBTA.
Lived here so long. People treat it with no respect, much like the city. Trash everywhere. It's so frustrating and embarrassing compared to other cities.
NOW NYC IS FILLED WITH MIGRANTS. The city does not want to help its citizens get housing and drug treatment but they rather help people coming here illegally unvaccinated unvetted and place them in Suny colleges until they get brand new apartments. Holocaust survivors and legal citizens get taxed at such high rates yet migrants get everything for free. NY is awful. NYC trains are NASTY MICE /ROACH INFESTED. NOW WITH THE MIGRANTS GETTING FREE METROCARDS ITS EVEN MORE CROWDED THE SUBWAYS.
These people are not being clean😡, cuz I loooove❤ the NYC Subway, and it is also dangerous, but what I think there should be underground security and Subway security.
Even though the NYC subway has many many problems but it is still the best way to get around. It is cheaper than owning a car , uber/taxi, bus and water taxi.
Very true but it feels like a roller coaster and not a great one super loud but for me from the Bronx to lower Manhattan and a lot of druggies I’ve almost got robbed 3 times but it is the fastest way to get around the city
I have a car but there is no place to park. I can afford ubers and taxis but I've had weirdo drivers. Tomorrow I'll be taking the subway home from JFK airport and it will be faster than a car.
The “best way” lmao. It’s the ONLY affordable way. Unless ur writhing walking distance of work and household needs. And bus tho it can be affordable takes to long.
The subway does the one thing it’s supposed to: get people from one place to the other as quickly as possible. You may have had a couple bad experiences, but that’s just bad luck. As a lifelong New York who’s taken thousands of subway rides, the number of problems I’ve had is minimal. Reliability has increased, stations are getting cleaner, and people are looking back to Transit as means of getting around.
As a native New Yorker I try to drive and pay for parking/tunnels rather than take the subways as I did when I was in school the subway is trash because all the money gets siphoned to connected contractors and politicians. So much corruption on the inside it’s ridiculous and I have first hand knowledge of that. It’s a huge embarrassment for a such a city.
@@jayo1212 London manages it fine with an even older system. Recently issued £500mil for improvements, maintenance and refurbishment. You need your gov to stop spending over half a trillion on a god awful military and more on everything else.
The subway is my favorite thing about New York because it has some things that no other city has, like Express service and 24 hour service. When it was first built, it was one of the best in the world. I bet if you made something like this 100 years ago you would say different things.
24-hour service is bad. Sure, it's really convenient, but it also leaves nearly no space for maintenance. The NYC subway's quality is awful for being the main public transportation system in the biggest city in the world's largest economy. It's badly underfunded.
I try to tell ppl here and show them how far behind we are when it comes to many things. Yet many Americans still live in the illusion of this is the best country on the planet. But they don't know why!!
I have been to Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. These countries are a higher level of civilization. Incredible infrastructure combined with civilized people. USA has horrible public transit and full of uncivilized people.
the people are innocent. it was our politicians who keep lying as if they run this country in the best way possible so they can take credit and re-elect. and our medias help the politicians to brainwash people to believe that they live in the best country in the world
Name me another country that beats the US over all don't just say "we'll american got too many liberals" (well it's true they Are destroying this country) don't wanna mix politics in to this but It's usually liberals that complain about this country and everything when they destroy it
Great video but as a native New Yorker, the MTA is the heartbeat of NYC. Nice you got diff perspectives but also that was Moynihan Station at the end (Penn station is the much dirtier station across the street).
@@TopFlightFamily 😂 Yeah I don’t blame the guy Drew too much though since he was just visiting I guess but his friend should’ve guided a little better? 🤷🏽♂️
As someone who lives in an area where the public transportation sucks(southern California) I would love something like this. Yeah, it’s old,grimey, and dangerous at times I would still take that over having to spend hours driving and sitting in traffic.
Ya lets see you say that when you are in the hospital covered with blood or break out with some disease. I think i will keep my car in the good o’l south
All I know is New York City Transit is the worlds most popular for the good & Bad. Most people that visit NYC say they wish they had such a big rail system where they live. And no other system have so much character in the bunch of years it been around.
NYC is in no way the world's worst metro. In fact, it's one of the greatest. It's old and it's 24 hour and it does quite well for its age. Also, I want to say, most of the subway cars are air conditioned and fairly new. The A/C are running the newest trains and the oldest ones, but the oldest ones will be replaced in a few years. The E,F, G,J, L,M,R all have trains about 10-15 years old but are modern with automated announcements and digital maps. The 2,4,5, and 7 also have fairly new trains. Grafitti is mostly removed from trains. The stations have nice mosaic on them and a lot of them have been refurbished in the last 5-8 years. For some reason, you showed a lot of older trains but the system has more newer than older ones at this point. I have a problem with New Yorkers who put their feat all over the seats and doors and treat the newer subways terribly. They are the ones littering the tracks and such. Yes, some stations are in disrepair what it as way worse in the 1970s and 1980s.
It's just interesting to find out (without taking into account all the dirt), is there a mobile connection in the New York subway, is it possible to charge the phone in the car for free?
@@samsep10l Sadness... But somehow I'm not surprised to see the big picture of the terrible New York subway. Visit Moscow and you will be simply shocked by the level of comfort, service, cleanliness and safety of the city and its metro in particular.
Rode it everyday living there 3 years. No problems, loved it. I read a lot of books, listened to music, rested, on an hour or more rides to and from Brooklyn or Queens to Manhattan daily. I'm from California, Bay Area... Grew up and lived stuck in traffic car culture, paying for gas at crazy prices. Suburban sprawl driving to everything around Silicon Valley. Ridiculous. To break free from that was incredible when I moved to NYC. Just to break free from the emission causing personal automobile, contributing to oil companies profits, and not worrying about parking/repairs alone. I bet I've saved $10,000 plus dollars not driving all those years. Plus you can drink! Ride the train home. No DUI and no danger to others. NYC subway is not perfect. It's no comparison to the world metros. But at least it's a metro in the United States that works and you don't need to rely on a car. It's a huge reason I have moved away from the US for 5 years now. I've traveled a lot, riding metros like in China, Korea, UK, Italy... Even Romania, Armenia, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Bulgaria, relatively poor places compared to the US have incredible systems. Overall USA sucks in public transportation! The car culture is disgusting and purposeful for profit that is damaging the environment and taking away humanity of people. This historic system in NYC is a beacon from the early 1900s of what America could have been. How Europe is. How Asia is. Especially China is an amazing system. It's a shame and I hate the rats and delays of the NYC subway. Plus a good 10 really bad experiences I had on my nearly 1,000 days of my life I rode the NYC subway. I rode every line proudly. On my days off work I'd jump on a random line and go to an area of the Bronx or Brooklyn or Manhattan I've never been before. I'll love that system and experience the rest of my life.
A healthy city is where its citizen walk to get around, means that it should support that walking lifestyle with good transit system (MRT, LRT etc) and reachable destinations (target, mall, entertainment). I miss my days in China and Singapore when I walk every day to get bus or train, going to parks and places afar with just a little time and pennies without traffic. Its ridiculous that US rely on cars most of the time just to fill the pockets of a few (think how its a law to have that much space just for parking that makes a lot of destinations unreachable by walking). What's more ridiculous is that US probably wouldn't be able to spend money on its infrastructure (expand the rail, improve the existing transit system, add more new stations) because of many situations. Just look at how Cali's bullet train was a big failure with an estimate cost of $113 billion for just 800 miles of rail (compared to China that only need around $10 million per mile or $8 billion for 800 miles).
Let me ask you something. How many of those great metro system in Europe and Asia actually operate 24/7? I almost bet none. And how many of them are at least 50% wheelchair accessible? The “sucking” United States has passed the ADA almost thirty years ago, which I don’t think any of those countries did. Perhaps the new system, particularly in China, are accessible because they’re, well, new. But what about Europe? Do London, Paris, or even Moscow, bother retrofitting their older stations for wheelchair accessibility? Well, NYC does. Which increases the convenience of getting around not only for wheelchair-bounded passengers but also for perfectly healthy people who happen to need transporting a baby on a stroller or some heavy luggage. As for rats and delays, I live in NYC for the past three decades and I see how this problems become less and less frequent. They’re not gone yet; it doesn’t happen overnight. But I can almost bet that NYC subway ten years from now will be way better than it is today. I do agree with you that the car-centric transportation development in most of the United States is not a good thing. But that doesn’t have much to do with the problem experienced by the NYC subway system. To the extent, yes, underfunding if transit in general did contribute to the neglect of our subway system back in the 70’s. But somehow NYC has avoided the fate of LA and other cities that were infested with highways and completely deprived of their rail transit. On the other hand, LA’s new transit system is nice and growing. And the new stations in NYC are impressive, too.
@@myname8419, Florida is expanding its Brightline system with no government assistance whatsoever. Of course it’s an exception rather than a rule, and Brightline can only afford being premium service rather than a cheap way of getting around. Still, it is an evidence that rail construction can be done even in the present-day US. While labor costs are a challenge, the main obstacle is the political will (or lack thereof) and NIMBYism. Also, with all the aforementioned problems experienced by New York City and its transit system, lack of walkability is NOT among them. You can walk around in New York without having to own a car. Besides, it’s not only in New York that you can walk around and ride transit. Had you ever been to DC? What about Chicago or San Francisco or Boston? All these cities are walkable and have reliable public transportation. Bicycling infrastructure is also growing; I use it in New York almost daily.
@@abenm613 so its privately owned. I was thinking something like a rail from government with cheap cost, a private owned rail would be business as usual. But yes, it is indeed an evidence that US can still expand its rail albeit from private companies to profit, but this makes my belief in government's infrastructure projects more negative.
@@myname8419, I guess it’s an unfortunate combination of challenges that are specific to the US. China or Russia don’t have these challenges, but they have totalitarian governments that limit people’s freedom in other ways. It’s kind of a tradeoff. But I don’t think it’s unchangeable. As Brightline example show, labor costs can be overcome even without government help (and in case where government is subsidizing a project, it’s definitely easier). So, perhaps other challenges can be overcome at least to an extent as well.
@@jakemullin7730 The London Underground is old as well, the oldest existing metro system. But its infrastructure is arguably better than NYC's. Tokyo Metro is old as well.
Dubai may have a better-looking metro but a lot of areas remain underserved and your only choice is between getting stuck in traffic or walking to an inconvenient bus stop during a hot day.
@@flip1sba however, the London underground is also really loud and screeches every now and then. Some parts of the crcle and district lines are quiet. Almost every station does not have platform edge doors. They are also more expensive than the NYC subway. The Copenhagen metro runs 24/7 fyi/btw.
I think this video was recorded like 5 years ago, some of this footage show things that arent on the trains today such as the train models themselves, no lcd screens anywhere, and some of the stations are pre overhauled.
I think the NYC subway is a perfect representation of the city as a whole. Disgusting and dirty, yet reliable, fast, and with a lot of history. It could definitely be better, but the convenience is unbeatable. Oh, and it never sleeps.
I like the metro stations in Kyiv, St. Petersburg and Moscow. I tried to use the metro in NY but fortunately I failed at the ticket machine. I was scared and totally shocked in this entrance to this dirty cave. You should judge a restaurant by its toilets(metro). Maybe the US country is rich but the US society is over all very poor.
Maybe on the surface but it is one of the most extensive network even to GLOBAL standards. No other runs 24/7/365 and reach as far as the NYC subway. Not to mention connections to local passenger rails like LIRR, MNR, Njtransit, and regional rail like Amtrak.
In the 80s the subway was far worse... there was less outrage because the city was struggling with crime and bigger problems, etc. The fact that people are complaining about public transit and expect better is, in fact, a sign of NYC's ongoing recovery, the growing popularity of these services, and likely modernization. Don't forget that for 30-40 years nothing new was built in NYC, the infrastructure was essentially abandoned, and only recently has begun to turnaround. It'll take another 30 years of work to overcome this neglect.
This video upsets me immensely as an avid bus rider on many different transit systems just here the US alone. Because at least in New York you can get around at anytime of the day or night. Unlike a lot of transit I been on here in the USA that stops running at 6pm doesn't have service on Sundays or any major holidays. So tell me more how it is awful
Just because New York is good compared to most of America's pitiful transport systems, it doesn't mean it is good compared to literally any system from any other country.
Exactly, the video highlights all the negative aspects of the system but understates how good it is compared to the rest of the country, where their systems are virtually useless due to how transit is looked down upon.
@Mildly Displeased I don't live in the rest of the world. I live in America and I would love a transit system like that in most cities that I visit so I could be out as late as I want to be. So yeah it's a good transit system because it gets you pretty much everywhere in the city and it's 24/7
@@CrazyHomelessWeirdo still you should try to be more humble and learn from the rest of the world. If you always think you're the best at everything you dont grow as a person or community
Lol no, that's only a minor issue, this is one of the dumbest things I ever heard. They're mainly dirty because of lack of maintenance and cleaning and renovation investments
Last year I was in NYC and I have to so that I had almost no problems with the subway. Never felt unsafe, always on time, not that expensive... But yeah, it was insanely hot.
I've ridden the DC Metro and MARTA, and only relatively recently rode the NYC subway! It was quite surprising how hot and stuffy those NYC subway stations were!
The Paris metro looks like luxury next to this, it has ventilation, trains every 3 minutes or so and it's honestly pretty clean. In the train it's very quiet and the announcements are very clear. But, pickpockets are a huge problem here, only for tourists though, if you look french they will stay in their lane. Also tickets are only 1.80€, I was shocked when I heard it's almost $3.
Yes and they cry broke every year and are planning on raising it again. Got a government grant to fund the train station kinda recently for the first time after covid and soon after getting that money they were talking about it still not being enough and needing to raise the fare. They are more concerned with people not paying for the fair then anything else such as the cleanliness.
Of course, the NYC subway seems shockingly worst if you use it for only a couple of days during your 3-4 days NYC trip. But only daily commuters can truly appreciate the scale of service it provides. For me what truly stands out about the MTA is the express trains running all over this massive city allowing rapid movement of people. I have sat in squeaky clean subways all over the world and it can be such a pain going from one end of the city to the other when trains stop at a station every 30 seconds unlike in NYC where express trains are the norm allowing commuters to rapidly move across this massive city. There are express lines in other subway systems in the world like a connection to the airport or to downtown but nowhere else express trains are remotely as widespread as in NYC. This single feature makes the MTA truly stand out.
As someone who was born and raised in NY, i can describe the subway in one word: inconsistent. This is due to the fact that some days you can get from Brooklyn to the Bronx no problem with 1, maybe 2 trains. Then there are the bad days where to get from one borough to another you need to take 3-4 different trains due to things ranging from track maintenance, delays, people being disruptive, rerouted trains, etc.
Best way to describe NYC Subway. It's _really inconsistent_ because it prizes comfort and coverage and variance over effiency. You don't know if you're going to have the best experience ever or the worst experience ever.
As a Russian American who lives in New York, the subway here is not as good as other places I’ve been to but at least it’s good to live in a city where I don’t have to drive everywhere. When I lived in Moscow and went back and forth to visit family, I took the metro frequently and I think it’s one of the best metros I’ve taken (it beats the traffic, which might be worse than NYC in some cases). Moscow stations have their own charms and aesthetics and a very reliable metro, especially since it was expanded last time I heard. New York simply doesn’t even come close to it.
I liked the new york subway when we visited. However, I also agree with everything you're saying it needs to be updated and cleaned. You should have visited the NYC Transit Museum which is located at the decommissioned Court Street station to see and share some of the history of the building of the subway and see the old subway cars. They are also responsible for the train of many colors and christmas trains each year when they put some of the old subway cars back into service.
Grew up in the NYC area, now working in the area riding the subway/PATH regularly. The system is disgusting but it's absolutely the BEST way to get around NYC efficiently. BTW: while subways serve Penn Station, it's not regarded as part of the subway system, with LIRR, Amtrak and NJ Transit being the primary users.
Having ridden subways in 91 cities, I can positively say that the most inefficient one is Boston's Green Line. It may be a little cleaner than New York's but it's agonizingly slow. The underground portion is an obstacle course which the MBTA refuses to acknowledge. Just yesterday, the train made 12 additional stops between stations from the tunnel portal to my destination, Boylston, 5 stations later. I grew up in NY and it was much worse in the 70s than it is now. As grimy as it is, it's still the quickest way to get around.
Note that the lettered trains are a foot wider than the numbered trains. All the numbered trains are compatible with any numbered line, and all the lettered trains are compatible with any lettered line. However, they're not compatible with each other as they were built by and for separate companies.
I don't know that I would call it the best. Even NY subway has many things that are missing from Moscow. However when it comes to beauty there is no contest anywhere in the world. Moscow is the most beautiful subway on earth.
I believe NYC has requested federal government funding in the past but they got denied. For being the oldest and one of the largest metros, it makes sense why it is so dirty. But as you seen major stations like Penn and Grand Central, being hubs, have been renovated. I foresee the same with subways in the future. The subway is annoying no doubt but as you mentioned it has a certain vibe/culture.
@Lexus LS400 Problem also is, if the federal government funds NYC public transit other major cities will demand the same--Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philly, Miami, Seattle, Houston, Phoenix, etc. That's a lot of money in a time when politicians are discussing raising a debt ceiling. Having these funded at the state level, like we do highways and roads makes more sense. NY already somewhat does that. Problem for NYC metro though is that due to its extensiveness and state of disrepair, it needs quite a lot of funding, which the state may not entirely be able to provide.
@@danmur2797, that’s a fair description of the challenges with transit funding in the USA. However, as far as debt ceiling is concerned, there are lots and lots of things to cut outside of the transportation sector. Transportation is only a tiny fraction of overall budget. A good thing about the recent deal, as I’ve heard, is that it streamlines transportation projects by no longer requiring numerous and expensive “studies”. On the other hand, the neglect of the NYC subway dates back to the 1970’s when debt ceiling wasn’t an issue. With combination of funding and good leadership, it is possible to bring the subway back to the state of a good repair, which is continuously being done over the past few decades.
@abenm613 Yes there are other areas to cut from. The largest area of spending in the Congressional budget is Social Security, the military, and Medicare. They form nearly 75% of the budget. In this last round of talks however these 3 items were largely spared. How do you propose then cuts elsewhere when transit funding alone, to provide for many cities will likely run over $1 trillion? Part of the reason why I'm saying these projects are better funded at the state level.
@@danmur2797, I don’t think transportation is any close to the remaining 25% of the budget. Perhaps it’s a few percents, with other things out there to cut from. But, yes, the officials may have to make tough choices of what exactly to cut and by how much.
Born and raised NYer, my only comment is shock that the 191st tunnel was painted over - I passed through there just a couple months ago and it feels weird to me that one of the most cool spots I knew in the city is just... gone
as a lifelong new yorker, the subway system is mostly reliable, but it comes at the cost of it being a health hazard. it's a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria, not to mention the lack of safety precautions
I have been on 17 different subway systems around the world. Some systems are definitely more attractive than New York's. But to be fair, New York's is the largest subway system in the world. And It is quite old. All things considered, I think they do a pretty good job.
I'm old enough to remember the ways when there were no announcements and no electronic displays. You simply had to know what your stop was and look. If you weren't familiar, you'd find out the stop before and the stop after (except in the sections where they're all numbered). Then you'd have to look. The good thing is that the station name or number is plastered everywhere in each station.
As a new yorker! I can say from my point of view that the people of New York are very rude and they like to believe that no one else has rights over them and that absolutely no one can tell them what to do! which makes people rebellious and believe that they should not respect public property! and this leads to the fact that in the subways we find so much garbage and dirt everywhere!
I’m a New Yorker too, a bronxite to be more specific and a lot of folks here are actually fairly nice. I think it could be a Manhattan thing you’re talking about
NY subway: it's often unreliable, it's dirty, there's lots of confusing maintenance scheduling, it's hot, it's smelly. BUT it's also weird, entertaining, bizarre, energetic, diverse, and it runs 24hrs a day. There's tons of room for improvement and it severly lags behind cleanliness and reliability of cities in Europe and Asia, but it has more personality and (charm?). It's also almost 120 years old, whereas some of the best metro systems in China (for example) are brand spanking new. There are challenges with the soil/rockbed that NYC is built on, and it's surrounded by water. The city floods easily with heavy rain, which floods the subway stations as a result. Despite valid safety concerns, I still find it much safer than some other transit systems in the US, as there's usually "safety in numbers". The women interviewed described it best; it's an adventure each time. The US isn't Europe or Asia. We're an oddball country and our poor infrastructure kind of fits our weirdness. If you're visiting NYC, don't be afraid to take the train. It's part of what makes New York the city it is.
Those are just excuses. It's called investing in infrastructure. There are cities all over the world with worse geological conditions than NY that solve these things. And I think what people react to outside the US isn't that you're oddball, it's that you often say you're the greatest nation in the world and all this stuff, instead of being humble
@@leob4403 You're projecting a lot there. I never said America is the best nation. We have woeful infrastructure compared to mist of Europe and Asia. Understanding it's easier to build and maintain modern subways in newly growing Asian and middle eastern cities vs fixing the largest and 2nd oldest subway system in the world (that runs 24 hrs a day), built in what is essentially a flooded underground swamp with hard bedrock isn't coming up with excuses. The newest subway line (2nd ave Q line) that only runs 3 stops took 10 years to build, decades of planning, and almost $5 billion to complete. If you want to do "America bad" when I'm just talking about subways I'll leave you to yourself.
@@arcadeshift5071 still I'm hearing excuses, new york city isn't the only city in the world with similar swampy grounds, there are plenty of ways to work with this type of terrain. Of course if you say it's impossible at the outset you won't even try. That's what we call an excuse to not even try. If the system runs 24 hours or 20 hours like in many European cities, is a marginal difference. Having 24 hours service is not an excuse to not do renovation and maintenance. That's the main difference, the metro systems in Europes old cities would also have looked like shite if they hadn't been continually renovated throughout the years. Your bathroom looks pristine when you have put all the new tiles and new sink and stuff in, but after 30 years it will look grimey and crappy, that's just the way decay works, time destroys everything, you just have to accept that you need to put new tiles in after those years
The NYC subway is like a 4 star hotel now compared to the late 70's early 80's when it was pervaded by decay and urban blight. Still the grubby elements is a signature of the city and adds to it's mystique.
The NYC subway is like a public school. It's slow to adapt, inneficient, dirty, and full of crime. But it's also vastly accessible to everyone and can take you where you want to go.
Hi! I just wanted to correct and say that that writing on the wall is Bangla (Bengali) not Hindi. There is a HUGE Bangladeshi population in NYC which is why you can find Bangla writing in multiple parts of the city. Like East Asia, writing forms in South Asia can look similar to people who are not familiar with most of the languages. So, it’s understandable. Love your content! Please keep making more! ❤❤❤🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩
Here in Europe not many systems have platform doors, just some fully automated ones - but I never thought the lack of platform doors is a real problem. But what I notice seeing this video is how dirty and uninviting the stations and trains look. I think a refurbishment would fix it - the stations with its iconic old cast iron beams could be real gems. Especially if everything were clean, and calm trains with brightly colored, friendly looking livery would come in.
@@chanelmone4721 In Asia the platform doors were not deployed for concern about people being pushed onto the tracks, but to discourage people from jumping in front of trains to commit suicide.
There are no platform doors in Madrid, but now they will install them on one line because it is going to become fully automated and driverless. So I guess eventually it will come to more lines that are automated.
I visited New York once, I found that they live in an expensive life but quality of life is so bad.. train stations are like something you see in ghost movie, no seat and every edge is full of spikes. Trains are so bad, I am very suprised that U.S. have most advanced weapons but 3rd world facilities.
DC should be the country’s role model for public subway. I have visited DC numerous times and their subway hasn’t given me any trouble. It’s clean, kept up, and looks modern
I went to NYC during New Years 2023, and coming from a suburb of Chicago with very little transit that is unreliable, I was shocked by how fast and extensive it was. Although it's dirty and unsafe at times, yall take the subway for granted and it frusterates me sometimes. Ever since visiting NYC, I have been more interested in the transit around me and have been trying to use my car less, which is very hard sometimes. I would kill for a subway here in the suburbs.
I prefer the LIRR for its speed and cleanliness, but my children LOVE the subway. They did not grow up riding public transportation, so for them, it's truly an adventure. They love the entrepreneur"ship", the different performers, that you can see acrobats on one train, mariachi on another, have people bring their goods for sale on another, and opera, rap, string music. They find the train system as providing a fast, fairly inexpensive ride into the city with "free" entertainment.
Man, I never ever in my life would have thought seeing a video about New York's subway system make me realise how developed my country's subway system is. Like no offence but this looks like something you would expect in a developing country.
I live in a city which has, by American standards, a good public transit system and I would be ELATED to be able to ride the NYC Subway every day. It's fast and it has stops all over the place. It just needs a few billion dollars in upgrades.
The subway needs to be cleaner and can improve its reliability (which they’re thankfully starting to work on). That being said, Drew, how does your city manage its 24/7 public transit system with over 450 stops (which btw is about twice as many as London’s Tube)? Oh, does your city not HAVE that? Okay… Also, fyi the Tube is also more expensive. Also, imagine trying to use a PAY PHONE in 2023 and being shocked that it doesn’t work… I live in New York. I’ve taken the subway thousands of times. I’ve never felt unsafe. I’ve never had an issue with the cleanliness except for maybe once or twice. And I’ve never had any real problem with it other than delays on the weekend. The subway should be better and faster but I’ve never thought it was too unreliable or too dirty for me to use. And I’ve never had an issue “breathing” down in the subway. And I’ve traveled the world too. To Europe and the Middle East. The NYC subway is far from the worst public transit in the world. A bunch of places I’ve been to around the world don’t even have a public transit system. Tbh, y’all seem like you just don’t know how to live in a big city.
Everything abt this is right except for the breathing, sometimes the smells are absurd like whenever I use the subway I still use a mask just so I dont smell it lol.
Super sad . I don’t want to take the subway when I visit next year even though I should experience it. The bus looked better. That I would ride. Thought that miracles tunnel would be place for crime waiting to happen. Wish I lived there long enough where conditions wouldn’t be a bother.
As someone who has lived in New York City, I can say for all New Yorkers that we're used to seeing the "delay" sign on those LED screens. It's just a fact of life that if you're living in New York City, you're not going to really get anywhere on time.
Penn station is actually a dump and can be considered the worst transit hub in the world. It is also a dark, and gloomy area where all of the homeless and crazy people hang out. What you were seeing in the video was actually Moynihan train hall, an expansion to Penn station.
@JoeLikesPlanes I saw that they’re renovating 33rd street entrance later this year. It’ll be a lifetime before the station can even be half of what it used to he
Nice video.....and nothing will change in the next 10 years. I first came to New York in 1989, loved the city and the Subway. Traveled the world and saw many Subways evolve. Been back in New York in 2000 and just 2022 and the Subway is still the same old trashy cars like from 1950 and the infrastructure is just falling apart. Just a couple of days ago I was in Copenhagen and the subway there was smooth and fast, clean and very modern. I love New York and I actually like the NY subway as it is "nostalgic", but for a city with the most Billionaires and rich people on the planet, it is a disgrace.
I don't know which New York you have visited, but I have been living here since 1994 and can testify on the improvements that have been made since then (and definitely since the 70's or early 80's, based on the pictures). Even if there was no change, you Martin Obert have no capability to predict future. Economies and politics can change drastically, and new initiatives can be taken in place you'd never expect them to. But even without getting in to that, the changes do take place, and I can almost bet that in 10 years the subway will be better than it currently is, because it is already than it was in the 90's. And your claim that in 2022 the "trashy cars" were like from the 1950's is a sheer nonsense, as the majority of the fleet currently in service were delivered over the past fifteen years. As for your favorite Copenhagen subway, how many lines does it have anyway? Does it operate 24/7? According to Wikipedia, it does. But does it serve most of the neighborhoods? Probably not. It's 39 stations in nothing in comparison to New York's 472. On the other hand, it's just two decades old. All five of New York's stations that were built within the past 20 years (not many, I know) are as nice and clean as their foreign counterparts. And even among the older stations, there are quite a number of them that are good looking and clean.
What are you talking about? In the pass three years ALONE, there have been big changes to the MTA. New carts, new methods of payment for entering the subways, cleaner stations, etc…
they already rolled out the new technology trains, the older ones like r46 r62 r68 can still run for a long time before they're completely taken out of service the redbirds and r32s have already been taken out of service if you live under a rock chances are, when you take the subway, you will be on a new technology train (except for 7th av and lex av)
@@i_am_a_toast_of_french, R42 left the service a while ago, even before R32 did. And the newest rolling stock on the Seventh Ave and Lexington Ave lines (R142/R142A) is from early 2000’s, not from the 1950’s. Right now the newest stock - R211 - is entering the service on the A line. So, yes, it’s not clear which New York the guy visited if he still saw the stock from the 1950’s and doesn’t expect it to change in ten years. Perhaps it’s one of the special interest folks, like out-of-town real estate or car dealer, who is interested in giving NYC subway a bad rep.
The prices are only going higher because of not only Inflation but also people evading the subway fare like it’s only $2.75 and it’s a problem for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and they have new fare gates now.
Chicago’s subway system is so much simpler. When I visited, I amazed and confused on all the train lines NYC has. Manhattan also used to have Elevated trains that got torn down and replaced by the subway.
The NYC Subway is the biggest in the world by number of stations and miles of track (iirc). Still it is not excuse for how poor condition a lot of it is in and how it barely expanded in decades and the few expansions we have gotten honestly do not make much of a difference and were extremely difficult to complete.
We totally 💯 agree with this statement, that NYC subway is the worst. And in the video 4:50 you said that was Hindi written in the subway, but it was actually Bengali 😅. Love your videos 😊from Canada 🇨🇦
@@followtheimprints, in terms of cleaniness, it is indeed problematic. But as far as safety is concerned, it's not more of an issue than anywhere else. Perhaps old equpment is more prone to causing delays, but safety is never compromised. Any claim that NYC subway is unsafe is plain false.
Obsolete equipment is a problem, as well as the lack of cleanliness. But both of these issues are being taken care of, though perhaps not as fast as they should be. NYC subway is unique and nice not because of these issues but in spite of them.
What I hate the most is that y’all don’t appreciate anything!! Yes I know it’s a 119 years old and it needs to be revitalized, but there’s so much to be grateful for ,#1 it’s a primary source of transportation for whomever is transiting throughout the five boroughs, #2 it’s inexpensive, #3 sometimes it’s efficient & reliable. Etc … but with all that said I admire the transit system! Most countries don’t have any at all.
for being a world class and important city my expectations to the transit system are definetly more than just being spread-out and transporting masses of people from A to B. It's some of the worst ride experience, has the worst and dirtiest stations, ...
I used commute home from work via the NYC subway at ~1am every day of the week. The service wasn't great at that hour but I was never worried about being stranded because the system runs 24/7. It has more stations than any other metro and none of them close. It is very hard to do everything the NYC subway does. Most systems don't even try. Shanghai, Tokyo and London may all have much nicer stations and more reliable service but they wouldn't have been able to get me home from work.
I am a native to NYC and still live here. The subway has been a very conveinient way to travel but is super dangerous. I have seen much like people pulling hair and pushing into walls and yelling. NYC has so much homeless people and sadly many addict. My station has a clinic for people who are specifically addicted to you know what. And those people come into my station and terrorize it.
This is just my opinion but I think we should appreciate that now it is cleaner than it once was and there are now adding platform doors at 3 subway stations at 3rd Avenue, Times Square-42nd Street and Supthin Boulevard it is definitely improving and getting better. I think you’re showing the negative side and they now have new subway cars and everything and as you said you can pay with you’re phone you can not do that on the Pyongyang metro at least I think. They have some new stations Lexington Avenue - 63rd Street, 96th Street, 86th Street, 72nd Street and 34th Street - Hudson Yards and yes it has it’s problems but it’s very helpful for Real Estate.
As an LA native who has been to NYC many times, Moynahan train station is one of my favorite new transit centers. Probably not the same history as Grand Central but still very nice and modern. The only thing I dislike is that there are no benches or chairs to sit on unless you head to the food hall or train waiting area. Why you find many people sitting on the floor. The rest of the system though is quite a mess as the video showed. Especially when it rains... LA's metro is nicer because it's newer, but is much less extensive considering the area covered, and also has drainage issues when it rains (which is less frequent than NYC). NYC streets unfortunately are quite dirty and that water that seeps to NYCs stations is just gross.
You should have seen it circa 1978. Half the doors on those old IRT trains wouldn't open, track fires occasionally from uncollected garbage, subway cars covered top to bottom with graffiti, no working a.c. By the way, no one in NY calls it the metro.
The stations are disgustingly filthy and poorly maintained and the trains aren't much better. The London Underground (Tube) is 5* compared to this and even the older lines are spotlessly clean compared to this.
It needs a MASSIVE overhaul though. London for example is much older & way nicer. Yes NYC is bigger but London has 5 separate rail rapid transit systems so it should be about even
It seems like I'm in the needle in the haystack- I'm personally biased and loved the subways growing up. Compared to other cities, it's going to lose by a longshot obviously because we lack the modern, clean vibe. But I'd say that its style can never really expire, and that it's always far more affordable and quicker to take than a car in the city. In Manhattan, I'd say is where it struggles the most since it's the epicenter of the entire population- which unfortunately include unstable/homeless people, who constantly undermine the stations. Outer boroughs like Queens and Brooklyn fare much cleaner and especially in the elevated sections. It's functional and in the lines that I commute with, I'm reach my location safe and sound 95% of the time. Only experienced a crime twice in my entire lifetime while riding it, but that's never deterred me. As for the night side of the subway, it's alright most of the time... just make sure you take the car in the very front or middle if you're paranoid, since that's where the conductor/operator are at if you need help immediately. Minus all the negatives, music performers and art that flows through the lines is astounding and inspirational. I strongly support the MTA and adore this city. :)
This just goes to show how essential proper funding is. US public transit gets hardly any, and thus will never compete globally. I really hope people start voting for those who will give it the funding it deserves.
As someone from Los Angeles, at least they have public transit. Try living in a city where a car is THE only way. I'll take NYC Metro over LA's lousy sprawl. The worse part is that other cities are WORSE. America truly messed up its urban planning. I just came back from Tokyo. Their public transit massacres our 3rd world urban planning - not joking.
Bro you're smoking dope lived in LA for 20 years and is one of the better transit systems I've ever been on and I've been. All over the country they have busses on top of busses in L. A,. California has transit literally everywhere you can take public transit from San Diego to to San Francisc if you wanted too. You can get everywhere You need to get in LA. Minus a few of the rich. Parts like Up in the hills So what are you complaining about?
You don't even know what bad service is. I'm living in the city like Albuquerque. We're bus is everyday shut down at 6 o'clock. They're going only a few parts of the city and they don't run on weekends or holidays in most of the time you have to have an. Uber to actually take you to a lot of the destinations You would want to go to then come back and tell me how horrible LA is wow people need to wake up and realize that transit in California. Some of the best in the country
@@CrazyHomelessWeirdo Clearly you're trolling. Born and raised in LA. SoCal has one of the worse transit systems in our country. If you're miserable in NM just say that. There's a reason why I still live in Los Angeles - but to lie and say our public transit is good is quite laughable.
@Jay Cee Cruz clearly you have not traveled and seen the awful transit systems in the other parts of the US. I mean let's see in LA you not only have metro you have city buses like culvert city and Santa Monica buses as well as Santa clarita the entire san gabriel valley has its own transit system as well as metro's There's still service in parts of san gabriel valley On top of that pasadena has a little transit system as well as core burbank has the transit system of its own. Not only that but we also have the orangge line to take us across of alleys between north hollywood and Chatsworth As well as the red line the green line in the blue line and rail system long Beach also has a transit system. Not to mention all the different commuter buses all over la as well as the dash and la metro still serves parts of the cities that have there own transit. Then on top the you have the metrolink a commuter train to take you to different cities around Southern Cali. Most of the transit runs every 20 to 30 on top of that. So again what part of la has lousy transit.
@@jayceecruz2605 you never really say why you say why you hate la what supports why la is a bad system
i came back from tokyo and i love how they are quiet and have manners and respect trust me i know
As someone who has lived in NYC my whole life, the subway can be rancid sometimes but it's honestly reliable and fast and I used to love memorizing all of the different subway lines as a kid. I think you have to appreciate the way it is and how it contributes to New York, and all of the dirty things you mentioned are easy to avoid as a frequent rider. Also I think the bus is a lot slower and it can get even more packed and jolty with traffic, so the subway is way more convenient imo
From Russian Subscribers Subways world over are clean n safe 24/7. AMERIKA urban areas are becoming cesspools n many areas as your nation is in a cataclysmic decline because of your liberal Progressive Leftists who have destroyed your nation from within. God 1st Yuliya ❤️🇷🇺⛪✝️ Here in VAST CENTRAL ASIA Leftists are repressed to keep us safe.
It's the most hectic, nerve-wracking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing... The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?
JOHN ROCKER!
Very true!
@@respectamerica2382 Amerika is a failed EXPERIMENT ✝️⛪🇷🇺
@@respectamerica2382 Amerika needs AUTHORITARIAN RULE 🇷🇺⛪✝️
As a native New Yorker, the subway is reliable when it wants to be. Delays are very common city-wide. Don't get me started on weekend service.
How much do you usually wait for a train?
@@o_s-24 5 minutes but like in queens and brooklyn night time can be as long as 25 mins
OMG yes the damn track work!
The subway is generally reliable, so sometimes delays do happen.
Foolish Long Giang Please visit Wonderful clean Subways here in Asia China Japan North Korea Russia n worldwide. Your ignorant of your ignorance of the world outside declining Amerika Yuliya Singapore 🇷🇺⛪✝️🇸🇬
As a lifelong New Yorker, I've experienced the subway as a passenger, as a transit worker, as a Train Operator and as a retired employee. I've seen this system at its best and its worst. I can say that today's subways is in better shape than it was in the 70's. It still has a way to go, but I think that if properly funded, the subway will see better days ahead.
Unfortunately, it'll take a lifetime to fix even most of the subway
One thing about NYC compared to other places is how isolated subways are in terms of services and financial upkeep. Not all stations, but most. MTA seems to care only about trains/buses whereas other places (especially Asia) take into consideration everything around the subway as one single business. The “metro” in a basic Tokyo or Hong Kong neighborhood for examples includes bathrooms, convenience stores, restaurants, a mall above ground, a skyscrapers sometimes. Each station is run like a business. When a station is part of a larger complex there is more reason to look after them because they basically pay for themselves and even make profit. Nyc needs to start building paid bathrooms and even showers and rent out all the empty useless room underground then it’ll improve and even make money. Too much wasted real estate.
It wasn't suppose to be like that in the '70's. But it was. This is the reason that you feel the NYC subway is in better shape today. Back then it was dark and dingy and dangerous. But it was not as dirty and did not smell rancid. The ventilation system is outdated, implemented many decades ago. The darkness and safety issue is not difficult to resolve. But to give the system an overhaul would be not impossible but unlikely.
If the ground traffic except service vehicles in NYC can be eliminated, above ground alternative rail system can be constructed. That would make use of the underground archaic. It would be as fast and convenient, but much more pleasant. The bus service would operate along side.
This would be worth funding...at least in Manhattan for now. Then perhaps later expand further into the outer boros.
@@Moemuntz
The other countries/governors care less about profit and the reallocation of revenue to "fund" other projects.
@@wip1664 Three things happened that bought the subways to a grinding halt... WWII, Robert Moses and Pres. Ford.
With the US getting involved in the war effort, all projects for upgrades and expansion were put on hold.
City planner Robert Moses vision for New York was bridges, tunnels and expressways. He had no patience for minorities or public transportation. He didn't want the subway to go to the World's Fair. So the subways were again pushed to the back burner.
In the 70's, NYC was on the brink of bankruptcy. President Ford told us to kick rocks. Look up NY Daily News headline 'Ford To NY: Drop Dead'..
Ever since, we've been playing catch up.
As a tourist, I think NYC Subway is so convenient. You can literally go from point A to point B fastly.
NYC Subway connects every corner of NYC.
I like it.
But don't you feel that people living there need improvement, better service? At least some people...
I agree with you that the subway is better than driving - more convenient, faster, safer. Don't have to look for parking!
That truly summarizes the NYC subway. When I landed in NYC a year ago I was scared and appalled by the state of affairs of the subway. But once I started using it on a daily basis, I truly appreciate the scale of infrastructure and the level of service. Where else can you zip across in express trains across the whole of the city 24*7. I have sat in squeaky clean subway systems across the world and know how painful it can be going from one end to the other when trains stop at a station every 30 seconds. I was astonished that express trains are a norm in NYC allowing me to rapidly move across this massive city without having to stop every 30 seconds at a station until I reach my destination. In terms of the scale of infrastructure and the level of service,it was and truly is world class!
A guy from a country that never saw any modern city before he will be impressed........!!!!!!!!!
Take a look at the Chinese subway。th-cam.com/video/aJz4OZ-nC10/w-d-xo.html
And I don't care that you have to move through mountains of garbage with sleeping and aggressive homeless people, right? If yes, then I don't understand you - I'm used to the level of service as in the Moscow metro.
4:50 it wasn’t Hindi Drew. It’s Bengali. I love it see it as I’m Bengali as well. I don’t live in NY but I know there are thousands of Bangladeshi live in Queens area.
finally someone noticed!
What’s really depressing is NYC is the best transit system in America. Let me repeat that. The NYC is the best. This old dilapidated, slow and aging system is the best because of America’s heavily car centric infrastructure. It could easily be world class but the system isn’t funded and the laws make it hard to make any improvements.
Well who would fund it?
Maybe at the state level like highways and roads are? Funding for transit systems really varies by city and state
LA for instance received most of its funding locally through bonds, with a few federal grants. SF's trains get more directly from the state.
NYCs system is unique in that it is so expensive to upgrade and build there, and has historically received more funding from the federal government than any other city's metro system. I can just imagine other cities asking for the same level of funding NYC gets from the feds (LA, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, etc.). In a time when politicians are fighting about raising a debt ceiling on spending.
The system is funded but all the money goes to salaries and pensions of transit employees.
USA is a car centered community. Public transportation is not their priority.
@@danmur2797it needs to be privatized - let multiple companies own it - create 1 system of MetroCard smart card ..watch how clean it would be - yes the government would need to pitch in too ... pretty much how the Tokyo metro is
If you think that the subway in New York is the best in America, then I'm even afraid to imagine the condition of the subway in other American cities. I would even disdain to go there.
My grandma, a native New Yorker, once told me that "nothing on 4 wheels moves quickly in Manhattan"
😂
I worked for the NYC Subway system for almost 38 years. It’s old, monolithic, cavernous, complicated, dirty and marvelous.
After teaching in a Catholic high school for three years (I have two masters degrees and a [online accredited] doctorate). I joined NYC Transit for the pay and benefits. It was an adventure. Most of the workers there are brave, hard-working and dedicated. At times, it’s frustrating and difficult dealing with the crime, filth (many passengers are slobs) and bureaucracy.
Overall, it’s (mostly) reliable and super convenient. Without the subway system, NYC would be more so much more unlivable than it is.
No doubt the staff is hard working, and that it reliably moves masses of people around the city. But when taking a look at other subway systems around the globe you start to feel the difference of the trains, the stations, the ride, ...
Thank you for servicing the subway riders and helping us get around.
I remember living in Moscow and their metro is just absolutely amazing. Whoever runs NYC transit would find themselves falling sideways out of window if they were cop performing that way in Moscow.
Dude outsiders treat the mta like trash dude it's a good subway
@@Nick_Garcia2348I don’t understand how people can give such bold negative opinions on things they’ve never seen in person
@@Nick_Garcia2348the only reason people from outside NYC treat the MTA so harshly is because clowns like these explicitly fond over the worst parts for views. Every video like this goes to the same few places and acts like they just happened to run into it by accident.
In reality while the MTA is severely flawed it gets the job done. There are things that could and should be done to improve it (MTA owned development to make back costs, upgraded stations with platform screen doors, automation, more transit police) but that doesn’t negate from what it is, the best and fastest way to get around the city.
Also the MTA isn’t even the worst subway in the US, that honor goes to the MBTA.
That would be Democrats.
@@leek6927 THANK YOU!!!!
Lived here so long. People treat it with no respect, much like the city. Trash everywhere. It's so frustrating and embarrassing compared to other cities.
NOW NYC IS FILLED WITH MIGRANTS. The city does not want to help its citizens get housing and drug treatment but they rather help people coming here illegally unvaccinated unvetted and place them in Suny colleges until they get brand new apartments. Holocaust survivors and legal citizens get taxed at such high rates yet migrants get everything for free. NY is awful. NYC trains are NASTY MICE /ROACH INFESTED. NOW WITH THE MIGRANTS GETTING FREE METROCARDS ITS EVEN MORE CROWDED THE SUBWAYS.
People need to open their minds. NYC is gross. They really need to work on that
These people are not being clean😡, cuz I loooove❤ the NYC Subway, and it is also dangerous, but what I think there should be underground security and Subway security.
accroding me on the bases of how much i had travled New Delhi metro is the best metro system according to me
Not to mention the amount of ppl that don’t pay the fare and ride free…
Even though the NYC subway has many many problems but it is still the best way to get around. It is cheaper than owning a car , uber/taxi, bus and water taxi.
Very true but it feels like a roller coaster and not a great one super loud but for me from the Bronx to lower Manhattan and a lot of druggies I’ve almost got robbed 3 times but it is the fastest way to get around the city
I have a car but there is no place to park. I can afford ubers and taxis but I've had weirdo drivers. Tomorrow I'll be taking the subway home from JFK airport and it will be faster than a car.
The “best way” lmao. It’s the ONLY affordable way. Unless ur writhing walking distance of work and household needs. And bus tho it can be affordable takes to long.
The subway does the one thing it’s supposed to: get people from one place to the other as quickly as possible. You may have had a couple bad experiences, but that’s just bad luck. As a lifelong New York who’s taken thousands of subway rides, the number of problems I’ve had is minimal. Reliability has increased, stations are getting cleaner, and people are looking back to Transit as means of getting around.
That's basically the basic function of any transport infrastructure in the world.
@@senorliamy17 So? What’s your point?
People shouldn’t be conditioned into thinking unsanitary conditions are acceptable
@@melaniegrace7707 they are not. People can think whatever they want
@@transitcaptain sure if you want to accept the bare minimum and risk your health and safety you’re free to think that!
As a native New Yorker I try to drive and pay for parking/tunnels rather than take the subways as I did when I was in school the subway is trash because all the money gets siphoned to connected contractors and politicians. So much corruption on the inside it’s ridiculous and I have first hand knowledge of that. It’s a huge embarrassment for a such a city.
It's not trash. Quite clean actually, I just took it today.
New York must make changes to its metro stations. It's a real absurd that such a rich city has a filthy underground system. 😵
Yeah, not so easy when a lot of it is over 100 years old and is in a small but densely packed city like NYC!
@@jayo1212 London manages it fine with an even older system. Recently issued £500mil for improvements, maintenance and refurbishment. You need your gov to stop spending over half a trillion on a god awful military and more on everything else.
The subway is my favorite thing about New York because it has some things that no other city has, like Express service and 24 hour service. When it was first built, it was one of the best in the world. I bet if you made something like this 100 years ago you would say different things.
Cleanliness standards have changed over 100 years. I do love the 24-hour service though!
@@man08839 I’m quite sure that you know that the government has other priorities
24-hour service is bad. Sure, it's really convenient, but it also leaves nearly no space for maintenance. The NYC subway's quality is awful for being the main public transportation system in the biggest city in the world's largest economy. It's badly underfunded.
@@gourmetbacon5750 underfunding is the main problem
@@man08839 8.468 Million
I try to tell ppl here and show them how far behind we are when it comes to many things. Yet many Americans still live in the illusion of this is the best country on the planet. But they don't know why!!
I have been to Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. These countries are a higher level of civilization. Incredible infrastructure combined with civilized people. USA has horrible public transit and full of uncivilized people.
the people are innocent. it was our politicians who keep lying as if they run this country in the best way possible so they can take credit and re-elect. and our medias help the politicians to brainwash people to believe that they live in the best country in the world
You should move.
Name me another country that beats the US over all don't just say "we'll american got too many liberals" (well it's true they Are destroying this country) don't wanna mix politics in to this but It's usually liberals that complain about this country and everything when they destroy it
@@robertplant2059 He/she should be able to live in the US whilst criticising aspects of the country that can be improved.
Great video but as a native New Yorker, the MTA is the heartbeat of NYC. Nice you got diff perspectives but also that was Moynihan Station at the end (Penn station is the much dirtier station across the street).
Yep came here to say this. That wasn’t the subway part of the station! 😅
@@TopFlightFamily 😂 Yeah I don’t blame the guy Drew too much though since he was just visiting I guess but his friend should’ve guided a little better? 🤷🏽♂️
As someone who lives in an area where the public transportation sucks(southern California) I would love something like this. Yeah, it’s old,grimey, and dangerous at times I would still take that over having to spend hours driving and sitting in traffic.
Ya lets see you say that when you are in the hospital covered with blood or break out with some disease. I think i will keep my car in the good o’l south
Nah. Just move closer to where u work or join a rideshare. SoCal is better than NYC in almost every conceivable way
All I know is New York City Transit is the worlds most popular for the good & Bad. Most people that visit NYC say they wish they had such a big rail system where they live. And no other system have so much character in the bunch of years it been around.
Agreed
NYC is in no way the world's worst metro. In fact, it's one of the greatest. It's old and it's 24 hour and it does quite well for its age. Also, I want to say, most of the subway cars are air conditioned and fairly new. The A/C are running the newest trains and the oldest ones, but the oldest ones will be replaced in a few years. The E,F, G,J, L,M,R all have trains about 10-15 years old but are modern with automated announcements and digital maps. The 2,4,5, and 7 also have fairly new trains. Grafitti is mostly removed from trains. The stations have nice mosaic on them and a lot of them have been refurbished in the last 5-8 years. For some reason, you showed a lot of older trains but the system has more newer than older ones at this point.
I have a problem with New Yorkers who put their feat all over the seats and doors and treat the newer subways terribly. They are the ones littering the tracks and such. Yes, some stations are in disrepair what it as way worse in the 1970s and 1980s.
It's just interesting to find out (without taking into account all the dirt), is there a mobile connection in the New York subway, is it possible to charge the phone in the car for free?
@@АлександрК-о1щ There's free wifi inside the station, not in the car itself, and no, you sadly can't charge your phone anywhere.
@@samsep10l Sadness... But somehow I'm not surprised to see the big picture of the terrible New York subway. Visit Moscow and you will be simply shocked by the level of comfort, service, cleanliness and safety of the city and its metro in particular.
Lmao, that's the bare minimum requirement for a good subway.
Rode it everyday living there 3 years. No problems, loved it. I read a lot of books, listened to music, rested, on an hour or more rides to and from Brooklyn or Queens to Manhattan daily.
I'm from California, Bay Area... Grew up and lived stuck in traffic car culture, paying for gas at crazy prices. Suburban sprawl driving to everything around Silicon Valley. Ridiculous.
To break free from that was incredible when I moved to NYC. Just to break free from the emission causing personal automobile, contributing to oil companies profits, and not worrying about parking/repairs alone. I bet I've saved $10,000 plus dollars not driving all those years. Plus you can drink! Ride the train home. No DUI and no danger to others.
NYC subway is not perfect. It's no comparison to the world metros. But at least it's a metro in the United States that works and you don't need to rely on a car. It's a huge reason I have moved away from the US for 5 years now. I've traveled a lot, riding metros like in China, Korea, UK, Italy... Even Romania, Armenia, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Bulgaria, relatively poor places compared to the US have incredible systems.
Overall USA sucks in public transportation! The car culture is disgusting and purposeful for profit that is damaging the environment and taking away humanity of people. This historic system in NYC is a beacon from the early 1900s of what America could have been. How Europe is. How Asia is. Especially China is an amazing system. It's a shame and I hate the rats and delays of the NYC subway. Plus a good 10 really bad experiences I had on my nearly 1,000 days of my life I rode the NYC subway.
I rode every line proudly. On my days off work I'd jump on a random line and go to an area of the Bronx or Brooklyn or Manhattan I've never been before. I'll love that system and experience the rest of my life.
A healthy city is where its citizen walk to get around, means that it should support that walking lifestyle with good transit system (MRT, LRT etc) and reachable destinations (target, mall, entertainment). I miss my days in China and Singapore when I walk every day to get bus or train, going to parks and places afar with just a little time and pennies without traffic. Its ridiculous that US rely on cars most of the time just to fill the pockets of a few (think how its a law to have that much space just for parking that makes a lot of destinations unreachable by walking).
What's more ridiculous is that US probably wouldn't be able to spend money on its infrastructure (expand the rail, improve the existing transit system, add more new stations) because of many situations. Just look at how Cali's bullet train was a big failure with an estimate cost of $113 billion for just 800 miles of rail (compared to China that only need around $10 million per mile or $8 billion for 800 miles).
Let me ask you something. How many of those great metro system in Europe and Asia actually operate 24/7? I almost bet none. And how many of them are at least 50% wheelchair accessible? The “sucking” United States has passed the ADA almost thirty years ago, which I don’t think any of those countries did. Perhaps the new system, particularly in China, are accessible because they’re, well, new. But what about Europe? Do London, Paris, or even Moscow, bother retrofitting their older stations for wheelchair accessibility? Well, NYC does. Which increases the convenience of getting around not only for wheelchair-bounded passengers but also for perfectly healthy people who happen to need transporting a baby on a stroller or some heavy luggage.
As for rats and delays, I live in NYC for the past three decades and I see how this problems become less and less frequent. They’re not gone yet; it doesn’t happen overnight. But I can almost bet that NYC subway ten years from now will be way better than it is today.
I do agree with you that the car-centric transportation development in most of the United States is not a good thing. But that doesn’t have much to do with the problem experienced by the NYC subway system. To the extent, yes, underfunding if transit in general did contribute to the neglect of our subway system back in the 70’s. But somehow NYC has avoided the fate of LA and other cities that were infested with highways and completely deprived of their rail transit. On the other hand, LA’s new transit system is nice and growing. And the new stations in NYC are impressive, too.
@@myname8419, Florida is expanding its Brightline system with no government assistance whatsoever. Of course it’s an exception rather than a rule, and Brightline can only afford being premium service rather than a cheap way of getting around. Still, it is an evidence that rail construction can be done even in the present-day US. While labor costs are a challenge, the main obstacle is the political will (or lack thereof) and NIMBYism.
Also, with all the aforementioned problems experienced by New York City and its transit system, lack of walkability is NOT among them. You can walk around in New York without having to own a car. Besides, it’s not only in New York that you can walk around and ride transit. Had you ever been to DC? What about Chicago or San Francisco or Boston? All these cities are walkable and have reliable public transportation. Bicycling infrastructure is also growing; I use it in New York almost daily.
@@abenm613 so its privately owned. I was thinking something like a rail from government with cheap cost, a private owned rail would be business as usual. But yes, it is indeed an evidence that US can still expand its rail albeit from private companies to profit, but this makes my belief in government's infrastructure projects more negative.
@@myname8419, I guess it’s an unfortunate combination of challenges that are specific to the US. China or Russia don’t have these challenges, but they have totalitarian governments that limit people’s freedom in other ways. It’s kind of a tradeoff. But I don’t think it’s unchangeable. As Brightline example show, labor costs can be overcome even without government help (and in case where government is subsidizing a project, it’s definitely easier). So, perhaps other challenges can be overcome at least to an extent as well.
The MRT systems in Singapore, Dubai & Tokyo are immaculate. I've never been in NYC, but this video is an eye opener.
HK as well
@@jakemullin7730 The London Underground is old as well, the oldest existing metro system. But its infrastructure is arguably better than NYC's.
Tokyo Metro is old as well.
Dubai may have a better-looking metro but a lot of areas remain underserved and your only choice is between getting stuck in traffic or walking to an inconvenient bus stop during a hot day.
@@trainsandmore2319 unless you are in the old part, Dubai is not even a pedestrian friendly city. It is a city for wheels not for feet!
@@flip1sba however, the London underground is also really loud and screeches every now and then. Some parts of the crcle and district lines are quiet. Almost every station does not have platform edge doors. They are also more expensive than the NYC subway.
The Copenhagen metro runs 24/7 fyi/btw.
I think this video was recorded like 5 years ago, some of this footage show things that arent on the trains today such as the train models themselves, no lcd screens anywhere, and some of the stations are pre overhauled.
I think the NYC subway is a perfect representation of the city as a whole. Disgusting and dirty, yet reliable, fast, and with a lot of history. It could definitely be better, but the convenience is unbeatable. Oh, and it never sleeps.
And densely packed!
The NYC subway may be bad, but San Franshitsco's BART is even worse. BART is not only dirty and smelly, but also unsafe 24/7.
I like the metro stations in Kyiv, St. Petersburg and Moscow. I tried to use the metro in NY but fortunately I failed at the ticket machine. I was scared and totally shocked in this entrance to this dirty cave. You should judge a restaurant by its toilets(metro). Maybe the US country is rich but the US society is over all very poor.
I'm going to need an entire playlist of transit systems around the world now.
New York so much money, yet the subway looks worse than those of developing countries.
Maybe on the surface but it is one of the most extensive network even to GLOBAL standards.
No other runs 24/7/365 and reach as far as the NYC subway.
Not to mention connections to local passenger rails like LIRR, MNR, Njtransit, and regional rail like Amtrak.
In the 80s the subway was far worse... there was less outrage because the city was struggling with crime and bigger problems, etc. The fact that people are complaining about public transit and expect better is, in fact, a sign of NYC's ongoing recovery, the growing popularity of these services, and likely modernization. Don't forget that for 30-40 years nothing new was built in NYC, the infrastructure was essentially abandoned, and only recently has begun to turnaround. It'll take another 30 years of work to overcome this neglect.
I'm even afraid to imagine what could or could be worse.
There are far less safe and dirtier metros in the US than NY. Atlanta comes to mind
This video upsets me immensely as an avid bus rider on many different transit systems just here the US alone. Because at least in New York you can get around at anytime of the day or night. Unlike a lot of transit I been on here in the USA that stops running at 6pm doesn't have service on Sundays or any major holidays.
So tell me more how it is awful
Just because New York is good compared to most of America's pitiful transport systems, it doesn't mean it is good compared to literally any system from any other country.
Exactly, the video highlights all the negative aspects of the system but understates how good it is compared to the rest of the country, where their systems are virtually useless due to how transit is looked down upon.
@Mildly Displeased I don't live in the rest of the world. I live in America and I would love a transit system like that in most cities that I visit so I could be out as late as I want to be. So yeah it's a good transit system because it gets you pretty much everywhere in the city and it's 24/7
@@mildlydispleased3221 hey, it's the only system that has express and 24/7 service, and it has cross platform transfers everywhere
@@CrazyHomelessWeirdo still you should try to be more humble and learn from the rest of the world. If you always think you're the best at everything you dont grow as a person or community
In most metro around the world, you're not allowed to eat or drink inside the train and that's how they keep the trains and the surroundings clean
Not sure whether this applies to most metros in the world, but it is a valid point.
Lol no, that's only a minor issue, this is one of the dumbest things I ever heard. They're mainly dirty because of lack of maintenance and cleaning and renovation investments
Last year I was in NYC and I have to so that I had almost no problems with the subway. Never felt unsafe, always on time, not that expensive...
But yeah, it was insanely hot.
I've ridden the DC Metro and MARTA, and only relatively recently rode the NYC subway! It was quite surprising how hot and stuffy those NYC subway stations were!
The Paris metro looks like luxury next to this, it has ventilation, trains every 3 minutes or so and it's honestly pretty clean. In the train it's very quiet and the announcements are very clear. But, pickpockets are a huge problem here, only for tourists though, if you look french they will stay in their lane. Also tickets are only 1.80€, I was shocked when I heard it's almost $3.
Yes and they cry broke every year and are planning on raising it again. Got a government grant to fund the train station kinda recently for the first time after covid and soon after getting that money they were talking about it still not being enough and needing to raise the fare. They are more concerned with people not paying for the fair then anything else such as the cleanliness.
1.80 euros is almost 2 US $ which is still cents cheaper.
@@chanelmone4721If the MTA wasn't controlled by Albany, there would be less problems with MTA being corrupt
4:48 thats Bangla! many Bangladeshis reside in the New York City!
fr were always overshadowed by Indians and Pakistanis
Of course, the NYC subway seems shockingly worst if you use it for only a couple of days during your 3-4 days NYC trip. But only daily commuters can truly appreciate the scale of service it provides.
For me what truly stands out about the MTA is the express trains running all over this massive city allowing rapid movement of people. I have sat in squeaky clean subways all over the world and it can be such a pain going from one end of the city to the other when trains stop at a station every 30 seconds unlike in NYC where express trains are the norm allowing commuters to rapidly move across this massive city. There are express lines in other subway systems in the world like a connection to the airport or to downtown but nowhere else express trains are remotely as widespread as in NYC. This single feature makes the MTA truly stand out.
that language is not Hindi, its Bengali
So its not from india
@@marks3270 It is one of the languages in India but it's not hindi
@@marks3270 yeah, have you not heard of multiple languages
As someone who was born and raised in NY, i can describe the subway in one word: inconsistent. This is due to the fact that some days you can get from Brooklyn to the Bronx no problem with 1, maybe 2 trains. Then there are the bad days where to get from one borough to another you need to take 3-4 different trains due to things ranging from track maintenance, delays, people being disruptive, rerouted trains, etc.
Best way to describe NYC Subway. It's _really inconsistent_ because it prizes comfort and coverage and variance over effiency. You don't know if you're going to have the best experience ever or the worst experience ever.
As a Russian American who lives in New York, the subway here is not as good as other places I’ve been to but at least it’s good to live in a city where I don’t have to drive everywhere. When I lived in Moscow and went back and forth to visit family, I took the metro frequently and I think it’s one of the best metros I’ve taken (it beats the traffic, which might be worse than NYC in some cases). Moscow stations have their own charms and aesthetics and a very reliable metro, especially since it was expanded last time I heard. New York simply doesn’t even come close to it.
Они никогда в это не поверят, ведь в России -- отсталые люди, в отличие от Америки 😉 (сарказм)
Falling apart infrastructure has become a sign of American decline relative to the rest of the world.
I liked the new york subway when we visited. However, I also agree with everything you're saying it needs to be updated and cleaned. You should have visited the NYC Transit Museum which is located at the decommissioned Court Street station to see and share some of the history of the building of the subway and see the old subway cars. They are also responsible for the train of many colors and christmas trains each year when they put some of the old subway cars back into service.
Grew up in the NYC area, now working in the area riding the subway/PATH regularly. The system is disgusting but it's absolutely the BEST way to get around NYC efficiently. BTW: while subways serve Penn Station, it's not regarded as part of the subway system, with LIRR, Amtrak and NJ Transit being the primary users.
Having ridden subways in 91 cities, I can positively say that the most inefficient one is Boston's Green Line. It may be a little cleaner than New York's but it's agonizingly slow. The underground portion is an obstacle course which the MBTA refuses to acknowledge. Just yesterday, the train made 12 additional stops between stations from the tunnel portal to my destination, Boylston, 5 stations later. I grew up in NY and it was much worse in the 70s than it is now. As grimy as it is, it's still the quickest way to get around.
AWESOME VIDEO! I love the various opinions and you truly visited just about the whole system! The documentation is stellar! NICE!!!!
Note that the lettered trains are a foot wider than the numbered trains. All the numbered trains are compatible with any numbered line, and all the lettered trains are compatible with any lettered line. However, they're not compatible with each other as they were built by and for separate companies.
As a russian, i can confirm that Moscow has the best subway system in the world.
I don't know that I would call it the best. Even NY subway has many things that are missing from Moscow. However when it comes to beauty there is no contest anywhere in the world. Moscow is the most beautiful subway on earth.
@@3markaw London also isn't bad as well
Nah, its either japan or korea
@@Demonslayerfan139 their station design is boring but agree
I believe NYC has requested federal government funding in the past but they got denied. For being the oldest and one of the largest metros, it makes sense why it is so dirty. But as you seen major stations like Penn and Grand Central, being hubs, have been renovated. I foresee the same with subways in the future. The subway is annoying no doubt but as you mentioned it has a certain vibe/culture.
it’s because our stupid government views transit as welfare
@Lexus LS400 Problem also is, if the federal government funds NYC public transit other major cities will demand the same--Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philly, Miami, Seattle, Houston, Phoenix, etc. That's a lot of money in a time when politicians are discussing raising a debt ceiling.
Having these funded at the state level, like we do highways and roads makes more sense. NY already somewhat does that. Problem for NYC metro though is that due to its extensiveness and state of disrepair, it needs quite a lot of funding, which the state may not entirely be able to provide.
@@danmur2797, that’s a fair description of the challenges with transit funding in the USA. However, as far as debt ceiling is concerned, there are lots and lots of things to cut outside of the transportation sector. Transportation is only a tiny fraction of overall budget. A good thing about the recent deal, as I’ve heard, is that it streamlines transportation projects by no longer requiring numerous and expensive “studies”. On the other hand, the neglect of the NYC subway dates back to the 1970’s when debt ceiling wasn’t an issue. With combination of funding and good leadership, it is possible to bring the subway back to the state of a good repair, which is continuously being done over the past few decades.
@abenm613 Yes there are other areas to cut from. The largest area of spending in the Congressional budget is Social Security, the military, and Medicare. They form nearly 75% of the budget. In this last round of talks however these 3 items were largely spared.
How do you propose then cuts elsewhere when transit funding alone, to provide for many cities will likely run over $1 trillion?
Part of the reason why I'm saying these projects are better funded at the state level.
@@danmur2797, I don’t think transportation is any close to the remaining 25% of the budget. Perhaps it’s a few percents, with other things out there to cut from. But, yes, the officials may have to make tough choices of what exactly to cut and by how much.
I enjoyed my commute on the metro in Tokyo this morning :D All other metro systems are ruined for me.
Born and raised NYer, my only comment is shock that the 191st tunnel was painted over - I passed through there just a couple months ago and it feels weird to me that one of the most cool spots I knew in the city is just... gone
as a lifelong new yorker, the subway system is mostly reliable, but it comes at the cost of it being a health hazard. it's a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria, not to mention the lack of safety precautions
The Netherlands also has no glass window to protect people from falling into the tracks
Every system built before the 80's doesn't have platform-screen doors.
Yeah, but people rarely push people into the tracks unlike in New York
Yeah, but people rarely push people into the tracks unlike in New York
@@delilah28100 that's a people problem, not an mta problem
Lol old Amsterdam looks newer than New Amsterdam
New York... A city that never sweeps
I have been on 17 different subway systems around the world.
Some systems are definitely more attractive than New York's.
But to be fair, New York's is the largest subway system in the world. And It is quite old.
All things considered, I think they do a pretty good job.
It’s best when maintained and run by a private for profit company. Like Tokyo. Or like nyc used to be.
I'm old enough to remember the ways when there were no announcements and no electronic displays. You simply had to know what your stop was and look. If you weren't familiar, you'd find out the stop before and the stop after (except in the sections where they're all numbered). Then you'd have to look. The good thing is that the station name or number is plastered everywhere in each station.
Yes indeed.
It is disgraceful if the US cannot provide a decent subway transport. They should get China to fix it.
As a new yorker! I can say from my point of view that the people of New York are very rude and they like to believe that no one else has rights over them and that absolutely no one can tell them what to do! which makes people rebellious and believe that they should not respect public property! and this leads to the fact that in the subways we find so much garbage and dirt everywhere!
You know how in other countries they have maintenance workers and cleaning staff and stuff like that? You should try it, it's not rocket science
I’m a New Yorker too, a bronxite to be more specific and a lot of folks here are actually fairly nice. I think it could be a Manhattan thing you’re talking about
I’m from Connecticut, I often take NYC subways and they’re gross and loud but effective, fast, and always on time
Exactly
I agreed with everything till u said always on time 😂I’m curious to know where exactly u was taking the train to
NY subway: it's often unreliable, it's dirty, there's lots of confusing maintenance scheduling, it's hot, it's smelly.
BUT it's also weird, entertaining, bizarre, energetic, diverse, and it runs 24hrs a day.
There's tons of room for improvement and it severly lags behind cleanliness and reliability of cities in Europe and Asia, but it has more personality and (charm?). It's also almost 120 years old, whereas some of the best metro systems in China (for example) are brand spanking new. There are challenges with the soil/rockbed that NYC is built on, and it's surrounded by water. The city floods easily with heavy rain, which floods the subway stations as a result. Despite valid safety concerns, I still find it much safer than some other transit systems in the US, as there's usually "safety in numbers". The women interviewed described it best; it's an adventure each time.
The US isn't Europe or Asia. We're an oddball country and our poor infrastructure kind of fits our weirdness. If you're visiting NYC, don't be afraid to take the train. It's part of what makes New York the city it is.
Those are just excuses. It's called investing in infrastructure. There are cities all over the world with worse geological conditions than NY that solve these things. And I think what people react to outside the US isn't that you're oddball, it's that you often say you're the greatest nation in the world and all this stuff, instead of being humble
@@leob4403 You're projecting a lot there. I never said America is the best nation. We have woeful infrastructure compared to mist of Europe and Asia.
Understanding it's easier to build and maintain modern subways in newly growing Asian and middle eastern cities vs fixing the largest and 2nd oldest subway system in the world (that runs 24 hrs a day), built in what is essentially a flooded underground swamp with hard bedrock isn't coming up with excuses. The newest subway line (2nd ave Q line) that only runs 3 stops took 10 years to build, decades of planning, and almost $5 billion to complete.
If you want to do "America bad" when I'm just talking about subways I'll leave you to yourself.
@@arcadeshift5071 still I'm hearing excuses, new york city isn't the only city in the world with similar swampy grounds, there are plenty of ways to work with this type of terrain. Of course if you say it's impossible at the outset you won't even try. That's what we call an excuse to not even try. If the system runs 24 hours or 20 hours like in many European cities, is a marginal difference. Having 24 hours service is not an excuse to not do renovation and maintenance. That's the main difference, the metro systems in Europes old cities would also have looked like shite if they hadn't been continually renovated throughout the years. Your bathroom looks pristine when you have put all the new tiles and new sink and stuff in, but after 30 years it will look grimey and crappy, that's just the way decay works, time destroys everything, you just have to accept that you need to put new tiles in after those years
Really enjoyed this style of video @drew binsky - keep going! ❤
The NYC subway is like a 4 star hotel now compared to the late 70's early 80's when it was pervaded by decay and urban blight. Still the grubby elements is a signature of the city and adds to it's mystique.
The NYC subway is like a public school. It's slow to adapt, inneficient, dirty, and full of crime. But it's also vastly accessible to everyone and can take you where you want to go.
Yep. It has insane accessibility.
Hi! I just wanted to correct and say that that writing on the wall is Bangla (Bengali) not Hindi. There is a HUGE Bangladeshi population in NYC which is why you can find Bangla writing in multiple parts of the city. Like East Asia, writing forms in South Asia can look similar to people who are not familiar with most of the languages. So, it’s understandable. Love your content! Please keep making more!
❤❤❤🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩
Yeah bro. & There are too much illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Kolkata also. I don't like this.
@@akash_bardhan too many hindus though
@@idkwhy77 Kolkata is in India, and India is a hindu majority country. That's like me saying there are too many muslims in Bangladesh🤡
@@akash_bardhanand there’s is to many Kolkata immigrants in bangladesh too
@@airplanedude3103 I know but India must be saved
Here in Europe not many systems have platform doors, just some fully automated ones - but I never thought the lack of platform doors is a real problem. But what I notice seeing this video is how dirty and uninviting the stations and trains look. I think a refurbishment would fix it - the stations with its iconic old cast iron beams could be real gems. Especially if everything were clean, and calm trains with brightly colored, friendly looking livery would come in.
It has become a concern when somewhat recently after Covid people have been pushed off onto the tracks.
@@chanelmone4721 In Asia the platform doors were not deployed for concern about people being pushed onto the tracks, but to discourage people from jumping in front of trains to commit suicide.
The newest stations (2nd Avenue) have no beams!
Paris have platform doors in the metro
There are no platform doors in Madrid, but now they will install them on one line because it is going to become fully automated and driverless. So I guess eventually it will come to more lines that are automated.
Loved the video, Drew! Also on a side note, that was actually Bengali posted at 4:52 😅
I visited New York once, I found that they live in an expensive life but quality of life is so bad.. train stations are like something you see in ghost movie, no seat and every edge is full of spikes. Trains are so bad, I am very suprised that U.S. have most advanced weapons but 3rd world facilities.
It's underfunded, and people don't want to pay fares so they lose out on money
DC should be the country’s role model for public subway. I have visited DC numerous times and their subway hasn’t given me any trouble. It’s clean, kept up, and looks modern
Yes, the metro system here in D.C. is a lot cleaner and safer then New York, no doubt.
And it’s called “metro” ….I think as an effort to be more like the rest of the world & not gritty American systems
@@sams3015 I'm well aware of that. When I wrote that a year ago I was being careless
@@bostonelevatorsaviation lol I wrote back 11mnts..did youtube just alert you now?
@@sams3015 yes
I went to NYC during New Years 2023, and coming from a suburb of Chicago with very little transit that is unreliable, I was shocked by how fast and extensive it was. Although it's dirty and unsafe at times, yall take the subway for granted and it frusterates me sometimes. Ever since visiting NYC, I have been more interested in the transit around me and have been trying to use my car less, which is very hard sometimes. I would kill for a subway here in the suburbs.
Subway in the suburbs is hard, bus routes seem more plausible.
I prefer the LIRR for its speed and cleanliness, but my children LOVE the subway. They did not grow up riding public transportation, so for them, it's truly an adventure. They love the entrepreneur"ship", the different performers, that you can see acrobats on one train, mariachi on another, have people bring their goods for sale on another, and opera, rap, string music. They find the train system as providing a fast, fairly inexpensive ride into the city with "free" entertainment.
How about Metro-North?
3:08 it literally has almost unlimited funding. 20 billion a year .
Man, I never ever in my life would have thought seeing a video about New York's subway system make me realise how developed my country's subway system is. Like no offence but this looks like something you would expect in a developing country.
I live in a city which has, by American standards, a good public transit system and I would be ELATED to be able to ride the NYC Subway every day. It's fast and it has stops all over the place. It just needs a few billion dollars in upgrades.
The subway needs to be cleaner and can improve its reliability (which they’re thankfully starting to work on). That being said, Drew, how does your city manage its 24/7 public transit system with over 450 stops (which btw is about twice as many as London’s Tube)?
Oh, does your city not HAVE that? Okay…
Also, fyi the Tube is also more expensive.
Also, imagine trying to use a PAY PHONE in 2023 and being shocked that it doesn’t work…
I live in New York. I’ve taken the subway thousands of times. I’ve never felt unsafe. I’ve never had an issue with the cleanliness except for maybe once or twice. And I’ve never had any real problem with it other than delays on the weekend. The subway should be better and faster but I’ve never thought it was too unreliable or too dirty for me to use. And I’ve never had an issue “breathing” down in the subway.
And I’ve traveled the world too. To Europe and the Middle East. The NYC subway is far from the worst public transit in the world. A bunch of places I’ve been to around the world don’t even have a public transit system.
Tbh, y’all seem like you just don’t know how to live in a big city.
Very much agreed
Agreed he was being too extra!! Kmt got me tight asf and i don’t even know this dude I literally just came across his page and this is what I get kmt
Everything abt this is right except for the breathing, sometimes the smells are absurd like whenever I use the subway I still use a mask just so I dont smell it lol.
its more expensive litterally by a dollar
@@uzin0s256 actually, the cost of the Tube varies based on Zone. So the cost can much more expensive than just $1 more.
I was in NYC last summer and my partner and I couldn't get over how incredibly nasty the metro was. It was appalling.
Yeah, Idk why exactly, but I'm guessing it's due to it being 24/7 service and the lack of funding
Super sad . I don’t want to take the subway when I visit next year even though I should experience it. The bus looked better. That I would ride. Thought that miracles tunnel would be place for crime waiting to happen. Wish I lived there long enough where conditions wouldn’t be a bother.
One of my all time favorite videos of yours❤👍
Awesome vid here, Drew! :)
3:54 my man puts a quarter in before taking the phone off the hook.
Tell me you’re gen z without telling me you’re gen z
I was saying the same thing: pick up the receiver then put in the money.
Ikr. What a chump 😂
Watching this makes me appreciate the Prague metro a lot more!
Best public transport, moje mesto
@@fugadores1 yea it’s pretty decent!
How many lines and stations does Prague metro have? Does it operate 24/7? What year did it first begin operation?
@@abenm613 3 lines: A, B and C. Operates from 5:00am until midnight Monday to Sunday. Started operations in 1974.
As someone who has lived in New York City, I can say for all New Yorkers that we're used to seeing the "delay" sign on those LED screens. It's just a fact of life that if you're living in New York City, you're not going to really get anywhere on time.
Penn station is actually a dump and can be considered the worst transit hub in the world. It is also a dark, and gloomy area where all of the homeless and crazy people hang out. What you were seeing in the video was actually Moynihan train hall, an expansion to Penn station.
The old Penn Station seriously needs an upgrade. I'm not the only one to be uncomfortable by those low ceilings.
@JoeLikesPlanes I saw that they’re renovating 33rd street entrance later this year. It’ll be a lifetime before the station can even be half of what it used to he
I enjoyed this video a lot 👍
4:51 that's not in Hindi that's Bengali🇮🇳/🇧🇩 language 🙂 .
Nice video.....and nothing will change in the next 10 years. I first came to New York in 1989, loved the city and the Subway. Traveled the world and saw many Subways evolve. Been back in New York in 2000 and just 2022 and the Subway is still the same old trashy cars like from 1950 and the infrastructure is just falling apart. Just a couple of days ago I was in Copenhagen and the subway there was smooth and fast, clean and very modern. I love New York and I actually like the NY subway as it is "nostalgic", but for a city with the most Billionaires and rich people on the planet, it is a disgrace.
I don't know which New York you have visited, but I have been living here since 1994 and can testify on the improvements that have been made since then (and definitely since the 70's or early 80's, based on the pictures). Even if there was no change, you Martin Obert have no capability to predict future. Economies and politics can change drastically, and new initiatives can be taken in place you'd never expect them to. But even without getting in to that, the changes do take place, and I can almost bet that in 10 years the subway will be better than it currently is, because it is already than it was in the 90's. And your claim that in 2022 the "trashy cars" were like from the 1950's is a sheer nonsense, as the majority of the fleet currently in service were delivered over the past fifteen years. As for your favorite Copenhagen subway, how many lines does it have anyway? Does it operate 24/7? According to Wikipedia, it does. But does it serve most of the neighborhoods? Probably not. It's 39 stations in nothing in comparison to New York's 472. On the other hand, it's just two decades old. All five of New York's stations that were built within the past 20 years (not many, I know) are as nice and clean as their foreign counterparts. And even among the older stations, there are quite a number of them that are good looking and clean.
What are you talking about? In the pass three years ALONE, there have been big changes to the MTA. New carts, new methods of payment for entering the subways, cleaner stations, etc…
There have been quite alot of changes in the past decade so I have no idea what you're talking about.
they already rolled out the new technology trains, the older ones like r46 r62 r68 can still run for a long time before they're completely taken out of service
the redbirds and r32s have already been taken out of service if you live under a rock
chances are, when you take the subway, you will be on a new technology train (except for 7th av and lex av)
@@i_am_a_toast_of_french, R42 left the service a while ago, even before R32 did. And the newest rolling stock on the Seventh Ave and Lexington Ave lines (R142/R142A) is from early 2000’s, not from the 1950’s. Right now the newest stock - R211 - is entering the service on the A line. So, yes, it’s not clear which New York the guy visited if he still saw the stock from the 1950’s and doesn’t expect it to change in ten years. Perhaps it’s one of the special interest folks, like out-of-town real estate or car dealer, who is interested in giving NYC subway a bad rep.
The prices are only going higher because of not only Inflation but also people evading the subway fare like it’s only $2.75 and it’s a problem for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and they have new fare gates now.
Do they employ ticket inspectors that charge fines for evasion?
@@leob4403 Forgot about this comment lol. No, they do sometimes on busses though.
@@declanftbl that's wild, I live in Sweden, the metro in Stockholm has ticket inspectors all over
@@leob4403Wow, same with other cities. They do it in NYC on the buses in the morning.
Chicago’s subway system is so much simpler. When I visited, I amazed and confused on all the train lines NYC has. Manhattan also used to have Elevated trains that got torn down and replaced by the subway.
The NYC Subway is the biggest in the world by number of stations and miles of track (iirc). Still it is not excuse for how poor condition a lot of it is in and how it barely expanded in decades and the few expansions we have gotten honestly do not make much of a difference and were extremely difficult to complete.
We totally 💯 agree with this statement, that NYC subway is the worst. And in the video 4:50 you said that was Hindi written in the subway, but it was actually Bengali 😅. Love your videos 😊from Canada 🇨🇦
The worst subway wouldn’t be able to be the largest in the world and operate 24/7.
@@abenm613 you are right, it is efficient. But in terms of SAFETY and Cleanness, it’s the worst
@@followtheimprints, in terms of cleaniness, it is indeed problematic. But as far as safety is concerned, it's not more of an issue than anywhere else. Perhaps old equpment is more prone to causing delays, but safety is never compromised. Any claim that NYC subway is unsafe is plain false.
@@abenm613 it’s your city, you know the best 👍🏻
I rate the nyc Subway a 9.5/10 in My opinion
I think its unmodernization is great as it makes it unique and nice, However the cleanliness and safety could use a lot of improvement
Obsolete equipment is a problem, as well as the lack of cleanliness. But both of these issues are being taken care of, though perhaps not as fast as they should be. NYC subway is unique and nice not because of these issues but in spite of them.
What I hate the most is that y’all don’t appreciate anything!! Yes I know it’s a 119 years old and it needs to be revitalized, but there’s so much to be grateful for ,#1 it’s a primary source of transportation for whomever is transiting throughout the five boroughs, #2 it’s inexpensive, #3 sometimes it’s efficient & reliable. Etc … but with all that said I admire the transit system! Most countries don’t have any at all.
for being a world class and important city my expectations to the transit system are definetly more than just being spread-out and transporting masses of people from A to B. It's some of the worst ride experience, has the worst and dirtiest stations, ...
Most counties don't have transit systems? Really?
Yes I should be grateful for the $300 nyc takes out of every paycheck to fund city services that continue to be less and less efficient
I used commute home from work via the NYC subway at ~1am every day of the week. The service wasn't great at that hour but I was never worried about being stranded because the system runs 24/7. It has more stations than any other metro and none of them close. It is very hard to do everything the NYC subway does. Most systems don't even try.
Shanghai, Tokyo and London may all have much nicer stations and more reliable service but they wouldn't have been able to get me home from work.
If the NYC subway had the same quality as the shanghai metro, it would be #1 in the world by a wide margin
I am a native to NYC and still live here. The subway has been a very conveinient way to travel but is super dangerous. I have seen much like people pulling hair and pushing into walls and yelling. NYC has so much homeless people and sadly many addict. My station has a clinic for people who are specifically addicted to you know what. And those people come into my station and terrorize it.
This is just my opinion but I think we should appreciate that now it is cleaner than it once was and there are now adding platform doors at 3 subway stations at 3rd Avenue, Times Square-42nd Street and Supthin Boulevard it is definitely improving and getting better. I think you’re showing the negative side and they now have new subway cars and everything and as you said you can pay with you’re phone you can not do that on the Pyongyang metro at least I think. They have some new stations Lexington Avenue - 63rd Street, 96th Street, 86th Street, 72nd Street and 34th Street - Hudson Yards and yes it has it’s problems but it’s very helpful for Real Estate.
As an LA native who has been to NYC many times, Moynahan train station is one of my favorite new transit centers. Probably not the same history as Grand Central but still very nice and modern. The only thing I dislike is that there are no benches or chairs to sit on unless you head to the food hall or train waiting area. Why you find many people sitting on the floor.
The rest of the system though is quite a mess as the video showed. Especially when it rains...
LA's metro is nicer because it's newer, but is much less extensive considering the area covered, and also has drainage issues when it rains (which is less frequent than NYC). NYC streets unfortunately are quite dirty and that water that seeps to NYCs stations is just gross.
I've been to Philly before, and their streets are even grosser.
You should have seen it circa 1978. Half the doors on those old IRT trains wouldn't open, track fires occasionally from uncollected garbage, subway cars covered top to bottom with graffiti, no working a.c. By the way, no one in NY calls it the metro.
Doesn't matter what you call it, it's a cesspit. People with clean, safe and functional infrastructure set the standards for how things are named.
The stations are disgustingly filthy and poorly maintained and the trains aren't much better. The London Underground (Tube) is 5* compared to this and even the older lines are spotlessly clean compared to this.
How does London Underground remain so clean?
@TiagoGomez-hb9te Because its not 24 hour. Gives time for maintenance and cleaning teams to keep it in a reasonable condition.
@@stevebradley704 Fair point...
Um, no. Do not piss on our subway system. WE have 24 hours public transit, some hella good train cars, 23 useful routes and over 400 stations.
I was trying hard not to be offended lol
It needs a MASSIVE overhaul though. London for example is much older & way nicer. Yes NYC is bigger but London has 5 separate rail rapid transit systems so it should be about even
I agree. People also gotta stop smoking on trains. Btw there are 472 stations
What good is 24 hours public transit if people are too terrified to leave their homes after dark? 🤣
It seems like I'm in the needle in the haystack- I'm personally biased and loved the subways growing up. Compared to other cities, it's going to lose by a longshot obviously because we lack the modern, clean vibe. But I'd say that its style can never really expire, and that it's always far more affordable and quicker to take than a car in the city. In Manhattan, I'd say is where it struggles the most since it's the epicenter of the entire population- which unfortunately include unstable/homeless people, who constantly undermine the stations. Outer boroughs like Queens and Brooklyn fare much cleaner and especially in the elevated sections. It's functional and in the lines that I commute with, I'm reach my location safe and sound 95% of the time. Only experienced a crime twice in my entire lifetime while riding it, but that's never deterred me. As for the night side of the subway, it's alright most of the time... just make sure you take the car in the very front or middle if you're paranoid, since that's where the conductor/operator are at if you need help immediately. Minus all the negatives, music performers and art that flows through the lines is astounding and inspirational. I strongly support the MTA and adore this city. :)
To the critics of Singapore's MRT, perhaps they should take a trip to NYC and ride on the NY subway then tell us how they feel?
Compare your metro to NYC to feel better is like comparing your hospital to witch doctor. Doesn't tell me anything. 🤣
u glazin heavy i cant lie, we on the come up💯
This just goes to show how essential proper funding is. US public transit gets hardly any, and thus will never compete globally. I really hope people start voting for those who will give it the funding it deserves.
It's pointless to vote since the candidates you can vote for won't do any of those things you dream of