Too Clean...

Today's guest post is from a loyal Cranky Commute reader who recently returned from Asia with some opinions about mass transit in China and Korea vs. NYC. Thanks for contributing, dad! Send your own opinions and experiences to thecrank [at] crankycommute [dot] com.

My wife and I just completed a two-month Pacific odyssey that included stops in Shanghai and Seoul. Both of these burgeoning cities recently built spanking new subway systems that whisk you to destinations far and wide in whisper-quiet comfort. The trains run on time, there is absolutely no graffiti, stops are clearly announced in both Chinese (or Korean) and English, while the stations are brightly lit, crime-free, and clearly signposted. Except for the rush-hour crowds (a universal phenomena) there are usually seats available for the elderly, disabled, and pregnant. This would appear to be a dream scenario for those of us who ride the NY subway system: nice new stations that are all escalator accessible, spotlessly clean trains that always arrive on time, and absolutely no fears of late evening travel.

While there are certainly many things to admire about these two transit systems, after riding them for a couple of weeks I yearned, rather surprisingly, for the gritty reality of our own imperfect MTA. I found the sparkling cleanliness of Shanghai and Seoul to be sterile, impersonal, almost bleak. There were no buskers or street musicians to entertain the crowds; no beggars yelling over the track noise “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen…”; no interesting examples of lifestyle, dress, body art, or piercings–in short, no good people watching. In these subways similarly dressed individuals stand in clearly marked lines to board a car, sit down, pull out smartphones, and sit quietly reading email or texting until their final destination.

Although you have to put up with the litter, panhandling, and an 80-decibel noise level, the NY city subway represents all that is wonderful, interesting, and frustrating about our city—the enormous diversity of behaviors, races, ages, incomes, orientations, and nationalities. While I would probably not mind better lighting and a little more attention to schedule, I would never want to give up the real-world edginess, even grittiness, of our imperfect but lovable NY subway.