The bars, they are shorter! photo snapped unobtrusively by Katherine M. Hill
I’ve officially tested transit in other cities and I’ve come up with a solution for WMATA’s failed attempts at providing more space for riders in its Metrorail cars: replicate New York’s subway.
Metro’s spring-loaded handles, which are a strain for short people and an obstacle for tall people (see Dharm’s comments in the related post) do not help the riders, and thus, can not efficiently pack more bodies into a car. I suggested abandoning the plans and adding more poles.
Most significant to these cars’ contributions are vertical poles attached to overhead bars and lower bars. The bars are less than six feet off the floor and are easy for passengers of average height—and many passengers that would be classified as “short”—to reach the bar. The bar’s convenience does occasionally put a passenger in an awkward position hovering over a seated passenger, lingering in his or her personal space, but given that most cars are crowded in a way that prevents any single passenger from keeping his or her personal space, it’s a rather small inconvenience in the grand scheme of commuting. (See Seinfeld clip below.)
The subway cars in New York City have as many vertical poles in its cars as Metro’s spring-loaded handle cars, allowing passengers that are unable to reach the bar. (Some appear to have even less.) This allows the interior to provide more capacity for standing bodies, apparently. I personally think that the additional vertical poles have insignificant contributions to the decline in passenger capacity. (And no amount of data will change my mind.)
Seats line the car on the sides instead of facing front or backwards; this is often a proposed solution, and does allow for optimum capacity in a seat without removing seats entirely. I personally oppose it: passengers carrying items will be often forced to stow the items at their feet, thus eliminating space and good will.
Metro has tested swinging handles but abandoned the plan because the noose-like handles whack riders in the face.
I advised against seatless cars, as Chicago briefly entertained the plan before realizing the car would be too heavy to move; New York is currently considering the plan despite the obvious idiocy of seatless transit. I vowed to a friend last week that I will never board a seatless car.
So, Metro! Get rid of the spring-loaded handles and lower the bar. It will require a little more maintenance, but passengers will feel less physical and emotional pain.
Spring loaded handle press release
Swinging handles press release
Readers Grill Transit Chief Over Bag Search Plan, via Get There
Metro Should Baf the Searches, via Get There
Metro Bag Searches To Come with No Warning, via DCist
Comments
I don't understand how storing your goods at your feet is such an issue? If the car isn't full you store it next toy and as it gets crowded between your feet. If you insist on preserving our current layout, then you have to live with the negative side effects created when engineeres try to make it work as efficiently as possible. Remember, the two big issues with Metro now are severe overcrowding during peak hours and the dwell times at stations during peak hours. Moving to aisle facing seating would solve both those those issues.
I guess you've never tripped over everybody's stuff or had your own belongings kicked across the car. :)
I don't mean that the clutter on the floor is enough of a problem not to move the seats, I'm just pointing it out in the interest of being fair because no solution is perfect. And because it's one of my pet peeves, right behind people who use an entire seat for their belongings.
Whenever I travel with my luggage I do put my bags in the aisle unless I can snag one of the seats at the back of the car. I've never had anyone trip over it (granted a checkable piece of bagage is much more noticable than a parcel). I'm sure if people use the seat next to them for their belongings, others will ask them to move. It happens almost all the time when the car (or bus for that matter) fills up. Now, I've noticed people sometimes pretend to sleep.. they will go to great lenghts to have two seats to themselves.
I think luggage is a different beast than oversized and/or bulging backpacks, groceries, etc. The size of luggage can't be helped so there's NOWHERE for it to go.
People WILL do ANYTHING for two seats. I've had to deal with more aggression in this in Baltimore than DC, so I'm used to people blatantly refusing to move their items. These are the same people who will sit in an aisle seat and refuse to move over. I've crawled over people to sit in the window just to make a point. (I'm stubborn, and apparently, willing to stoop.) It really gets under my skin.
Maybe my standards for transit etiquette are too high.
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