NYC subways are vital for the livelihood of millions; when the subways are delayed, the whole city crumbles; based on the current weak economy, people are worried that they may lose their jobs for being late. It is easy to blame the MTA; however, I am sure they are doing their best to ensure everything is on schedule and minimize any delays. Just imagine how many things could go wrong every day, hint: sick passenger on board.
Recently, a lot of subway stations have free Wi-Fi and cell phone service, which I believe is one of the best solutions for mitigating delays.
We are addicted to entertainment and will do anything to stay entertained; as long as we are able to check how many likes our latest dog/child picture got on Facebook & Instagram, you will not even notice the delay.
There are still some stations without wireless service or Wi-Fi, whether those stations are still planned or due to their intense depth, it may not be feasible to have service there. Myself and other passengers tend to complain while being on the F train on the way from Manhattan to Queens when the train is delayed, for that same reason. For some people, being stuck on a train and not being able to tweet about it is even worse.
In comparison, losing power is another major obstacle that interferes with our daily entertainment plans and especially with our kids’ entertainment who cannot breathe without their gadgets. During Sandy, kids were lined up next to all the stores that had power and offered them a chance to charge their phones.
Morale of the story: find a way(s) to always keep the phones charged and internet available during any delay and/or outages and less customers will be annoyed, are you not entertained?
