Trials of Transportation

Like most New Yorkers, I use public transportation basically every day. And like most New Yorkers, I have a love-hate relationship with the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Association). I LOVE not having to drive a car, but sometimes the subway system and bus system in this city really ...suck. 

Today was one of those sucky days. I left for work at Columbia two hours early. While it only takes 45 minutes to get from Brooklyn to Columbia on a good day, it will most likely take an hour to 95 minutes most days. So I take the Q at Parkside, transfer at 42nd street to the 1, and everything's going smoothly. 

At 96th street (THREE stops away from Columbia), the train sits in the station for five minutes. The conductor comes on: "Ladies and Gentlemen, this train is being held in the station. We expect to be moving shortly. We apologize for any inconvenience." This is a standard message you hear a lot - it could mean the train will actually be moving shortly, or it could mean the train will sit here for another 45 minutes. 

I was doing OK on time, so I decided to just wait and see what happened. 

Twenty minutes later, and two identical announcements later, the conductor announces: "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the last stop on this train. Please exit the train." 

Exasperated sighs and exclamations from everyone on the train, including me. I have to walk approximately 20 minutes from 96th to get to Columbia, and I will have to hustle to make it there before my class starts in 40 minutes, because I still have some prep to do. 

So I get off the train, exit the station, and see that the m104 bus is waiting right there, which will get me to Columbia faster. Yay! I run to catch it (as do a lot of other people who got off the train with me), and we just barely make it in time. As we're pulling away from the curb, an angry white dude comes up to the side of the bus and starts yelling at the bus driver to stop, so that he can get on. She waves at him to show that no more people can get on the bus because it's too full already. He punches the window - hard - and breaks the glass on the bus window! 

SO, now the bus driver has to call in the harassment and damage to the bus, and all of the passengers of the bus have to exit, since the bus is now out of service. Hooray!!

I basically jog/walk all the way up the 20 blocks to get to Columbia. And then I spend 10 minutes posting this blog post about my morning (I still have 10 minutes left before class)! 

And that was an example of a more frustrating Friday morning commute. 

It's almost Saturday. BYE!