With the possibility that it could jack the price of a monthly unlimited MetroCard from $89 to $130, the MTA has smartly decided to hold off on experimenting with seatless trains for now. As part of a pilot program to free up more space on crowded rush-hour trains because obviously there is no money to just run more trains the MTA had ordered four trains with foldable seats, seats which would be locked in the “up” position at times of heavy volume. But with commuters already feeling like they’re getting screwed, depriving them of the ability to even sit down was probably going to result in some kind of violent uprising involving mobs and guillotines. “I don’t know that a train like that, even though the idea was to increase capacity, was something that the public would have embraced,” a transit official says delicately.
Relief! Straphangers won’t be crammed into cattle-cars after MTA nixes plan for seatless subways [NYDN]
