the weekend the subway didn't run (MySpace 1/29/2008)

Subject	the weekend the subway didn't run
DateCreated	1/29/2008 9:44:00 PM
PostedDate	1/29/2008 8:04:00 AM
Body	Not every city depends on rapid transit to the extent that New York does. Here is a brief account of what it was like when shuttle buses were substituted on a weekend for a single subway line in Queens... Last Sunday I had to go to a Greek performance thing at the old World's Fair site near Shea Stadium. Using the Metro's on-line trip planner, I discovered that on this particular weekend, the train I needed was being terminated short for maintenance. Shuttle buses serviced the remainder of the route. Figured I had to allow extra time for travel. In fact, I did get there in time, but I had no idea what I was in for. I first noticed them when I got on the train at Times Square - transit workers in dark blue uniforms and safety vests en-route to and from some event. At the other end of the line I found out. Maybe a battalion of them had been assigned to facilitate moving people between the elevated train and the shuttle buses, and also to assist further along the route. Yellow tape, bullhorns, people directing traffic, "travel information advisers" at marked spots. To get from the train to the bus, there were multiple stairway turns, some at odd angles, past the Long Island Rail Road, maybe four stories down to the street, through a traffic light, and down a side-street. Enter both doors - no fare. Talk about good planning - you could have been half asleep, but they still would have gotten you on the bus. But there's more. The two-lane street below the tracks is also a shopping strip, miles long, many hundreds of little stores, street vendors, almost entirely Hispanic - from the signs (and some faces) a big Columbian / Ecuadorian presence. Sunday is a major shopping day. The sidewalks were crowded, people getting on and off at every stop (both doors please, no fare). To make this work, they had assigned a virtual flotilla of buses - as many as needed. But there were also cars in the way, and traffic lights at every corner. So while the operation was about as smooth as it could be, we were kind of just oozing along. I can't think of a more graphic example of the value of rapid transit in places that need it. The common wisdom is that elevated trains and their structures are noisy, unsightly, obsolete - a blight in the neighborhoods that they transverse. Yet in this situation, having the transit line above the shopping street makes perfect sense. I mean, consider the alternatives.