July 31, 2008
INFURIATED STRAPHANGER
How dare Eliot Sander and his henchmen at the MTA even consider raising the fare on a dilapidated, decrepit and malfunctioning system?
Last night, what should have been a 45 minute ride home during rush hour from Borough Hall to Dyre Avenue on the number 5 express train from Brooklyn to the Bronx turned out be an hour and a half ride long with ten minute stops between stations from 149th Avenue and Grand Concourse to Dyre Avenue. At this point, the number 5express was running on the number 2 local line, without so much as a word to frustrated passengers. Also hoardes of passengers were thrown off the number 2 onto the 5 train because of “signal problems, making for an overcrowded, uncomfortable ride.
Adding insult to injury of course, were the damn door chimes going off every five seconds, opening and closing at whim, with announcements (finally) claiming that there was “train traffic” ahead, and asking us to “please be patient”, which was hard to do as some of us sat like stuck pigs, others stood, practically on top of one another-
helpless and sweltering in the heat, longing to reach our destinations before nightfall, as we watched trains zipping past us, wondering where the “traffic ahead” was if all of these trains were whizzing past with no problem.
Those of us who depend on the subway to take us to and from our jobs on a daily basis have the right to expect that the hard earned money that we are being asked to fork over is being well spent. Those of us who ride this malfunctioning system know that it is not. The fares go up while the service worsens. The MTA has the nerve to ask us to be patient make while they continue to mismanage their budget and hold straphangers accountable for their incompetence. We simply cannot afford it. I have a question: what would the MTA do if all the strap hangers decided to take a stand and boycott the MTA? Costing them billions? Something must be done. It's the MTA's turn to pay.
Posted by renee at 2:35 PM | Comments (0)