Transit

I’ve been pondering mass transit here and how it compares to other places I’ve been. The NYC subway certainly has more character than any other system I’ve seen. In addition, it’s cheap, vast, and comprehensive and of course it runs all night. I especially love the announcements that periodically come over the speakers alerting riders to upcoming stops or train changes, -they all get delivered in the dialect that people all over the world think of as the New York City accent. Subways in other places have the disembodied voices of professional voice talent that evoke a sense of generic friendlyness. The only big complaint I have with the NYC subway is the lack of signs telling you when the next train is coming.

Now that we’re on the subject of subways it gives me an opportunity connect this back to the trip, a topic surely more interesting then my thoughts on how NYC charges passengers unfairly (the other idea that’s in my head). Of the places I’ve been to on this trip, who has the best mass transit? Best is so vauge, let’s invent some categories shall we:
• Best overall subway system – Seoul. It’s gigantic with something like 15 lines, it’s hard to not be within 5 minute walk of a station. It’s also cheap and very well marked in Korean, English, and Chinese. On top of that you’ve got the super friendly Soeulites(?) who mostly speak English and are comically eager to help confused tourists.
• Best reason why Tokyo’s subway isn’t the best – for me it comes down to the multiple companies. For some reason the tokyo subway is operated by multiple companies that do not let you transfer for free. This sucks bigtime, as it takes forever to figure out that this is even going on. On top of that, whoever designed the signs needs to be beaten with a stick. They seem to follow the “put a sign if it’s blindingly obvious, leave it unmarked if it’s potentially confusing” school of thought. Ugh. Though I could cause a Japanese head to explode ala Scanners just by saying this: Japan could learn something from Korea.
• Best train for straightup coolness– Japan wants this one so badly, but they lose. The coolest train is surely Shanghai’s maglev train which floats above its track and goes 270mph alhough it’s really a gimmick with two stops.
• Best new transit system provided you don’t want to go to that place where you probably need to end up going – Surely this is the relatively new (5 years?) skytrain system in Bangkok. It’s clean and nice and easy to navigate. Unfortunately it doesn’t go to the Grand Palace/Khao San Road area, which try as you might, you cannot avoid needing to go to these places.
• Best display of awful subway manners – Beijing. You know that “let them get out first thing” they do everywhere else? Well they don’t do that here. Welcome to chaos. It’s quite a thrill to be body checked out of the way by Grandma as she tries to enter the train before you. The total contrast is Tokyo where they form 2 perfect lines in front of every door and though it may be quite busy, it’s the picture of order.
• Best bus system if you only consider cost and how cool 1950-60’s busses really are – Yangon. Ride all day for $.02. And if you’re on it’s a party. Everyone on the bus will be talking about you anjd looking at you, so you might as well try to talk with them! Great place to use the “I can’t understand what you’re saying, so I just repeat back what you just told me” trick. No matter how badly you butcher it, you’ve just said something in Burmese! Everyone will laugh.
• Best bus system if by best you mean terrifyingly dangerous and full of livestock – anything in Laos not geared to tourists.
• Best train ride for oppulance – The special express train from Fukoka to Nagasaki – big black leather seats, hardwood floors, recessed lighting, private compartments for cell phone use. And this is in coach class.

Comments

[J]

Wait, have you ever actually ridden BART? If that's "professional voice talent", I owe the anime overdub industry a sincere apology.

[scott]

ahh yes, the everyone rush in before everyone else gets out trick. if you say that that only exists in beijing, clearly you haven't tried getting on or off the 2/3 at times square.

they've got the same problem in the cairo subway (metro?), too. that subway is new, well-marked, clean, efficient, but try getting off a train. i dare you. no, no... i double dog dare you.

[mom]

Great post. It's good to have you active in the blogosphere again.

[rob]

thanks for your visit back east the other week. We've survived another halloween party - that is, I tried to cook a good paella but was defeated by lack of time and competence. In both cases there, I've referring to my personal lack of time and competence. Next time I plan to follow 1 single recipe for paella, and not to average two recipes as I was doing.

Anyway, I was wondering how you've been doing? (And I remember your blog address whereas I am dismally failing to remember you're new yahoo address)

Cheers,
Rob.