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New NYC Subway Design Fail: Lockable Folding Seats

A perfect example of what can go wrong when the solution is not holistic

By Rain Noe - October 27, 2017

in Urbanism

The reliability of New York City's overtaxed, delay-ridden subway system has declined precipitously in recent years. Individual tales of woe abound on social media; after a recent three-hour delay, this student even missed his own graduation.

One of the worst commutes is the morning crush from overcrowded Williamsburg to Manhattan, where straphangers routinely have to let two or three trains go by before they can manage to squeeze inside. That's on the L line. In an attempt to solve this problem, this week the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) rolled out some retrofitted L-train cars which contain these:

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If it's not obvious, those seats fold shut.

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The idea is that by folding them upwards, more people can fit in the car if they stand in the space taken up by the seats.

Here's the problem: People are selfish jerks. No one who has scored a seat on a crowded NYC subway car is going to stand up, sacrificing their own comfort for the sake of the larger group. (As our manners as a society have declined, I've even seen sitters on the subway completely ignore the pregnant woman standing in front of them.)

The MTA has anticipated selfishness, and thus mandated that MTA workers lock the seats in the upright position during the morning and evening commutes. This sounds effective, if a bit Draconian. But this practice has given rise to two more problems. One is that the MTA has not clearly communicated to riders that the seats are meant to be locked upwards; this leads to commuters getting onto the emergency intercom to complain to the conductor that the seats are broken, according to the New York Post.

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The second problem is that the workers do not unlock the seats when the train is empty, but instead on a timetable. This makes no sense. For example, after reaching the terminus in Manhattan and discharging its human cargo, the L-train is largely empty for the trip back into Brooklyn. But with the seats still locked shut, you have "people forced to stand in mostly empty cars," as the Post writes.

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On Wednesday one of the retrofitted cars had to be taken out of service less than a day after it debuted, according to the Daily News.

A maintenance supervisor reported that vandalism was apparently the cause of damage to two sets of flip-up seats in a car, after an inspector at the Canarsie Yard was unable to lock the seats into position.

Metal brackets were bent and cables ripped out of one set of seats, while another set was reported broken. The train was later sent to a Brooklyn repair yard.

So to recap, we have:

1) Selfish Jerks
2) Lack of Communication
3) People Standing When They Don't Have To
4) Vandals

How can you solve for all of these? The solution is elusive. Sadly, the most effective solution is to knock out #1, #2 and #4 and live with #3 by doing what the MTA has done with the retrofitted cars on the E-line:

Seats were removed at the ends of each of the cars to increase capacity and reduce the time it takes for passengers to get on and off the trains. The seat removal is expected to increase the capacity of each train by between 80 and 100 passengers.

This is why we can't have nice things.

o

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Mark Salerno

7 years ago

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Truly holistic would include these:

- eventually, because of increasing population, we will need some new cities.
- ideally, no one would need to get on such a vehicle in th first place.
- pregnant women, in a perfect world, would not be travelling on such a vehicle in rush hour. So the way we work needs to change.

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Romaric Le Tiec

7 years ago

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Here in Paris we have a quite reliable public transportation system, with more frequent trains and live traffic information in stations and on mobile devices, so that commuters did become quite demanding. We also have foldable seats in metros and seats, but here people dare to express when some of them should stand up for pregnant women or elderly. I think the solution is mainly in communication and culture. It’s a long but more reliable solution !

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Coleman Horn

7 years ago

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"The seat removal is expected to increase the capacity of each train by between 80 and 100 passengers" ...per train per day, only to be relevant if the train car needed that extra capacity..

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Jeramie B

7 years ago

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I had been working in midtown for 17 years. Thankfully im back in an office in NJ... But why didnt they just make the seats individual and spring loaded. You cant force someone to give up their seat, true. But preparing for that involves that the passenger should have some sort of control. Draconian is right. Whenever the state is involved, its always a one size fits all solution and that rarely ever works. The minute you tell people they cant moved the seats, they'll break them in rebellion. It was a bureaucrat that definitely came up with this new problem. How much will broken seats and more trains out of service cost... Geez...

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Donald Jones

7 years ago

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We need Robotic seats that kick everybody off, if somewhen doesn't give up their seat for the pregnant or elderly/infirm patrons. I call this the Basic Training alternative. Works for Drill Instructors.

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Prescott Perez-Fox

7 years ago

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I've been asking for this for years. The missing component, though, is the social pressure. Riders, not MTA staff, must enforce the "no sitting when it's crowded" rule. Train conductors can help the effort by voicing over "ok folks, time to stand." based on their own observations.

My vision is also that _every_ seat folds up, except at the front and rear car of the train, where seats are permanent. Elderly, pregnant, or just plain tired riders will learn to talk a wee walk on the platform to get the best seat — indeed, the only seat.

Think social pressure doesn't work? It's all but eliminated bikes on the train during rush, and ensures that pregnant women get a seat damn near instantly.

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- Shamila Zubairi
  
  Prescott Perez-Fox
  
  7 years ago
  
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  Very true Prescott! The driver announcements will absolutely cause the social pressure to make people stand up. Only if The Creative had that power!
  
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