so...subway racing is apparently a thing

January 13, 2018 7:19 AM

Adham Fisher does IRL speedruns of urban transit systems around the world. The goal of urban transit racing is to visit every stop or station of a system (like the Chicago "L" or the London Underground) in as little time as possible. Starting at age 14, Adham has been urban transit racing and setting records all around the world.
posted by mumblelard (23 comments total)

I'd be interested to learn the route the Toronto record-holder took; there's...not a lot of room for improvisation or variety. Basically, it would be a contest to see who got luckiest in terms of avoiding service delays.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:29 AM on January 13, 2018 [3 favorites]

Transit systems include buses.
posted by srboisvert at 7:50 AM on January 13, 2018

The "urban transit racing" link is about covering the London bus system.
posted by hoyland at 8:04 AM on January 13, 2018 [2 favorites]

Subway racing is definitely a thing, but going to all stops is new to me.
posted by Merus at 8:14 AM on January 13, 2018 [4 favorites]

Wonder if he had to get around oyster card system at all? I imagine that many ins and outs in a short time period would raise some flags.

Also bet there's some careful decisions made about which stations to exit at as some of the London ones are much deeper and busier than others.
posted by 92_elements at 8:20 AM on January 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

From the “setting” link we learn that Adham doesn’t share his record setting itineraries, which seems unsporting.
posted by notyou at 8:39 AM on January 13, 2018

Wow... this is so interesting. In Atlanta, the whole system would take about 90 minutes to traverse, walking backwards (but at a brisk pace). #needmorepublictransportation
posted by pearlybob at 8:43 AM on January 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

Here he is in 2012 talking about doing the Toronto run, which, compared to London’s 17 hours, only took him 2 hours.
posted by chococat at 8:55 AM on January 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

I start at Mornington Crescent...
posted by Splunge at 9:11 AM on January 13, 2018 [13 favorites]

There's a fun anecdote in the book "Hackers" by Steven Levy about some of the characters using one of the first PDP-1 systems (I think) to calculate the fastest way to visit every station in the MBTA system in the 70s. (Details hazy, it's been a long time since I've read the book. I should fix that.)
posted by jferg at 9:18 AM on January 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

For WMATA, the record is 2 day, 17 hours, 31 minutes. Not counting the treatment time for smoke inhalation and first degree burns.
posted by stevis23 at 9:20 AM on January 13, 2018

> Transit systems include buses.

I'd say this depends on the transit system. The limit of the system could be who owns/operates it. Or it could be where the transit card is accepted. How you define the game could definitely change things in, say, the SF area.
posted by cardioid at 9:42 AM on January 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

> Here he is in 2012 talking about doing the Toronto run, which, compared to London’s 17 hours, only took him 2 hours.

So...less time than the average Toronto commute? *rimshot*
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:57 AM on January 13, 2018 [3 favorites]

Doing the toronto system in only 9961 seconds is pretty neat. The new, all-grey Line 1 extension will have revised that somewhat.

He should do Glasgow. Try optimizing that one …
posted by scruss at 10:26 AM on January 13, 2018

I wonder if someone has done Chicago again since the red line track repairs, the train goes much faster now. That link only includes a record in 2012.
posted by mai at 10:34 AM on January 13, 2018

Answer: yes, in under 9 hours! Tribune link.
posted by mai at 10:42 AM on January 13, 2018

I did a variant of that living in Chicago for a summer - - every meal at a different L stop.

Everybody gives the near-west side shit, but there was some great food off of the blue line...
posted by Seeba at 1:11 PM on January 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

Fell asleep. At Heathrow Terminal 5...
posted by Splunge at 4:30 PM on January 13, 2018

OK ... time for someone to do Shenzhen ... which seems to be changing almost monthly
posted by mbo at 4:42 PM on January 13, 2018

For an enjoyable bit of narrative fiction on this topic, I recommend Keith Lowe’s novel about a man completing a journey of all stations in the tube on the eve of his wedding: “tunnel vision”.

More recently, Matthew Ahn established a new NYC record of 21 hours 28 minutes.
posted by lasagnaboy at 5:09 PM on January 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

Or it could be where the transit card is accepted.

Great googley gumdrops! The Pasmo works most places in Japan these days ...
posted by oheso at 11:25 PM on January 13, 2018

In 2010 I did the full length of the metro in Kazan, Russia. Took about 20 minutes from memory. To be fair it only had six stations. I wonder if it has more now.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 2:35 AM on January 14, 2018

Great googley gumdrops! The Pasmo works most places in Japan these days ...

Is the Trans-Siberian Railway a complete system in and of itself? Is it part of a larger system?
posted by cardioid at 9:44 AM on January 14, 2018