MetaFilter posts tagged with subway and transit

Next stop... your bedroom.

adamms222 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:02:40 -0800

Underground Signs is a company in Brooklyn creating customized NYC subway signs. Other products have horned in on the distinctive look of the MTA's designs, including the map, the train line logos, and the neighborhoods serviced. But this is the first I've seen of the option to create a replica from the NYC underground with one's own name, street, etc. (the site allows you to generate a"Create Your Own" image). Notwithstanding questionable trademark issues that may arise with NYC's transit authority (others have tussled with the MTA over similar matters), this looks like a great idea for transit enthusiasts and others looking to bring a little of the Big Apple into their own home.

So you ditched your car - here's help with public transit

desjardins — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:58:07 -0800

NextBus uses GPS to tell you the predicted time of the next bus. Google maps show buses in real time, and you can get updates on your phone/PDA. The coverage is limited to certain agencies within the US, so these other sites might be useful: Hopstop covers subways and buses in NYC, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, DC, and more. (mobile version) Google Transit has many US metro areas in addition to Canada, Europe, and Japan. (previously) Many more locations inside. Other trip planners (mostly mobile):

MTA (New York City)
MTA (Los Angeles)
Amtrak
New Jersey Transit
MBTA (Boston)
Washington DC Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Chicago Regional Transit Authority (CTA, Metra)
A Train (Atlanta)
Valley Metro (Phoenix)
San Francisco Bay Area 511 (BART, Muni Metro, VTA Light Rail, Cable cars, Commuter Rail, buses, ferries)
Portland (interactive map; roll your own app)
King County Metro Online (Seattle)
Toronto (TTC Buses and subways)
Vancouver (BC) Translink
Paris (RER, TGV, Metro, bus, more - in French)
London Underground and DLR
Norikae-Annei (Tokyo)

Google Transit

WCityMike — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:37:34 -0800

Although its App Engine rollout is getting the bulk of the headlines today, Google rolled out another small product: an expansion of its Google Transit website. Although Google had previously included the location of subway stops on its maps, it now lets you know how to go from one address to another via public transit in 37 different cities across the U.S., Canada, Asia, Europe and Australia. It will even tell you exactly how much gas money you're saving. Over the past few months, Google reps have been heading out to different cities and setting up partnerships with various city transit agencies, including Perth, NJTransit and the Chicago Transit Authority, the latter of which rolled out their announcement this morning with "loud, pulsating music, pyramids of large colored cubes in Google’s color schemes" and "futuristic ergodynamic chairs." (Chicago's mass transit agency recently expanded their own online "bus tracker" website, to boot, and gets extra points for not neglecting to make it accessible.) No word yet on when Google plans to offer mass transit directions for the subway systems at its new colony.

The labyrinth made simple

sneakin — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 14:07:25 -0800

Getting around underground in NYC is no longer only for people who already know how to get around underground in NYC. Graphic Designer Eric Jabbour has been spending his free time obsessively redesigning MTA transit maps. And the results are striking. Non-New Yorkers will undoubtedly be able to figure out what's what. Cleaner lines and neighborhood boundaries are just a few features. Also, one can clearly see and understand transfer points and more street names.

Token Sucking

Artifice_Eternity — Mon, 28 Apr 2003 14:01:15 -0800

A Disgusting Practice Vanishes With the Token "Officially, the crime is classified as theft of Transit Authority property. But among transit police officers it is more accurately and less delicately known as token sucking. Unfortunately for everyone involved, it is exactly what it sounds like." (Originally from NYT. More here.)

Arson in South Korean subway

antimarx — Tue, 18 Feb 2003 02:19:02 -0800

More senseless killing, boys and girls: an Arson in a South Korean subway. "With 135 people injured, many seriously, and at least 90 people listed as missing, officials say they expect the death toll to rise much higher." This will, no doubt, help in stabilizing the region.

feelinglistless — Wed, 22 Aug 2001 15:24:32 -0800

How do they do it? The Guardian sent their reporters to the four corners of the world to review...underground railways. The findings prove predictably that anything is better than The London Underground. In Prague for example: "Not long ago, a man paid for adverts to be put up in all 940 trains, pleading with his girlfriend to take him back. Czechs understand the romantic potential of the metro and it has found its way into a fair amount of the nation's modern literature. "