NYC Day 2 - Subway

After my first experience on the New York subway system, I've gained a little more respect for the TTC. The trains here are pretty loud and scary as they come into the station, kind of like Moscow ones. TTC trains are actually not so bad in comparison. I couldn't even hear my dad talking and he was sitting right across from me. I'm assuming the train's interior is mainly stainless steel (in places where TTC trains have some off-white plastic stuff) because they want to make graffiti easy to clean off. Unfortunately that also makes it feel like the inside of a prison cell. Also, route maps are difficult to find or read, making me realize how nice it is to have those simplistic colour-coded diagrams over TTC subway doors. Finally, there aren't any stop announcements, or not any that I could hear over the roaring and crashing ruckus of the moving train.



There are good things too. Mainly, I want to point out the ticket system that is very superior to the TTC's. You can buy a MetroCard in any amount of money you want to put in, with a negligible expiry date (mine's for sometime in 2011). It seems much more practical than being forced to carry tickets/tokens or buying fixed weekly/monthly passes. You can just slide the magnetic strip on the card through gates as you enter and a little screen tells you the balance you have left. You can also "recharge" it and put in more money when you run out. Think of it as something between the MTR Octopus and the TTC.