GreeNYC.

On my way home this evening, I saw an advertisement advising "A" train riders to switch to more energy efficient light bulbs. Here's a visual:

I thought the light bulb made up of the subways lines was clever and cute. That little bird that is now the new mascot for these subway ads letting people know to be more energy efficient and all of that environmentally good stuff.

I'm all for going green--especially with the reminders of Earth Day coming up all over the place--but I have a few problems with our mass transit system demanding us to go green. They are making it kind of impossible to commute.

Those on the subway and buses are already being green by choosing to take public transportation as opposed to a taxi or driving themselves. Granted, many people that take public transportation are not doing it primarily for environmentally conscious reasons but that's besides the point. With the way the MTA is cutting its spending that directly affects millions of people, it seems to me that it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose one of the greenest way to travel.

The latest and most dramatic changes to the system has been the decision to eliminate the W train and my beloved V train. The changes will take place on June 25. Yes, I am very fond of the V train; when I was in high school I would ride this train from Queens Plaza to Woodhaven Blvd to catch one of the plenty dreadful Queens bus lines home. The V was the most enjoyable part of my commute; it was never packed to the brim with people making it easy to locate a seat. The mostly bump free ride was soothing as one would be transported from Astoria to Woodside to Jackson Heights to Elmhurst in less than a half hour. Even riding it into the city was a delight. Many commuters would opt for the vastly overcrowded F train which runs on 6th Avenue as well, making my many trips to study for the SAT Subject Tests at the Mid Manhattan library pain free. Today (well yesterday technically) I took this train from 42nd Street to 14th Street which took a mere five minutes. It's promptness and speediness still don't fail to impress me. Why, dear God why, would they even think about eliminating one of the most efficient lines of the subway system?

For the same reason I listed above. Not many people ride this train as opposed to other lines so the MTA sees it as a waste of money. If commuters are not packed like sardines in a can then it obviously must be unnecessary! So, what they are proposing is changing the color of the M line (it's brown now so it will be orange... this bothers me too) and having the M run from Broadway-Lafayette to Forest Hills and having it run from Essex Street to it's current end location, Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue. The new map will look a little something like this:

From my understanding of this map, there will be 2 M lines going to different places? I would imagine it will cause a lot of confusion and pissed off commuters going to a part of Queens they didn't mean to go to-- at first. Then we will get used it and know where we are going.

The M was crap to begin with though. It shows up once every 20 minutes even during rush hour. Commuters transferring from the Myrtle-Wycoff station in Ridgewood from the L to the M sprint if they hear the train coming overhead. Otherwise, they are in for a 15-30 minute wait of a packed M train. I have been a victim to the unprecedented cruelties of the M train. Whenever I drive pass the Forest Avenue stop in Middle Village/Ridgewood/Glendale there is never and I mean never an M train passing through. It sucks so much. There is no other way to describe it. These are the options the MTA is giving us. Suckiness to the extreme. As if commuting in Queens wasn't bad enough!

And it's not only Queens residents suffering the consequences. The M is mostly being discontinued in Brooklyn, meaning there will be more people on the R and the D. I can't speak for the volume of commuters on those trains in Brooklyn but I'm going to assume those lines are going to have more riders.

Ah, but I haven't gotten to the best part! The new orange M lines will be 480 feet long as opposed to the 600 feet the V train is. And we will have to wait on average of .75 minutes going to Middle Village and .60 minutes going to Forest Hills. .75 minutes MTA time=10 minutes real time (source: experience). What does that all mean? In short, it means a crappy subway line is going to be even worse with larger crowds and a longer time to get home/work/school/go to a friend's house to bake cookies because you can't at home.

Ah, yes the W. I did not ride that train very often but when I did it treated me well. The MTA wants to extend the Q line to the Astoria-Ditmars station so it runs alongside the N train. That's all good and well but the W was such a lovely train line. Now it will be an overcrowded Q line. I've taken the Q in Brooklyn and that shit takes an eternity. It makes every single random stop. It's usually not too crowded in Brooklyn, I'll give it that. But it still takes a million years to even get to Atlantic Avenue from Avenue H. The MTA made the calculations for me: passengers will have to wait an extra 1.1 minutes during rush hour and an extra 2.5 minutes during off peak hours for the Q. Oh yeah, and the N is going to be making more stops too because the W was local. An extra 1.1 minute wait. In short, it will take a fucking eternity to get to anywhere on those lines.

Where's the silver lining you may ask? The MTA thinks it will be saving $4 million with the elimination of the V and $3.5 million with the termination of the W. Also, there will be a permanent extension of the G train from Church Avenue to Court Square in Queens and shorter waits for it. Woo fucking hoo.

What about the rest of the subway system? Never mind the new waits on the F/M lines and N/Q lines. What about the damned C line? It was voted the worst line in the entire subway system due to infrequency, poor quality of sound from the operator/conductor, and nastiness in general. It's overcrowded and it also sucks. What about that overcrowded mess of a 6 line? What about the bus routes that are vital to Queens residents because the trains are ridiculous and don't service about half the borough? Where's the added frequency? Where's the major cleanup of the Nostrand Avenue train station on the A/C line that always smells like piss? The MTA is solving nothing. The MTA is the root of the problem.

There were talks of raising the subway fare to $2.50 but that did not pass. I spend roughly $1,000.00 a year on unlimited Metrocards to commute. Where is that money going to? Certainly not to benefit the consumers. Then they have the sheer audacity to tell me I need to be more green?! REALLY? You are chastising me for not being more energy efficient when honestly I can't afford to spend more money on energy efficient products because you are a major cause to my poverty! And for what?? Worse service and increasing the possibility for inappropriate sexual contact on those overcrowded trains. Kiss my ass MTA.

With these cuts and no signs of service improvement in sight, many commuters will turn to car services and driving to get around. I can't think of one person who would rather ride the train for an hour and a half pressed upon a hobo than drive for half that time to get to their destination. Or car pool. This might be a stretch but the MTA is certainly being counter intuitive. For many, it will force them to seek alternative, non-green ways of getting around. Unless they actually do something to benefit the New Yorkers who need this service, just stop. Stop shoving this green propaganda down my throat as I sit in a packed Brooklyn bound A train, contemplating begging my dad to drive his Subaru to school. You are in no way helping me in my decision to kill the earth with one angry step on the accelerator at a time.

In case you are wondering were I got all my information from and for additional cuts to public transportation, it's all here: http://www.mta.info/news/stories/?story=24 and click on "Final Report of all service changes" under New York City Transit.