New York Rated Worst City for Traffic

Is it possible to have driven anywhere in our city and be surprised by these results? NAVTEQ Study: Worst Traffic In U.S. On New York City Freeways

I recently took a car trip upstate on a Saturday and it must've taken about an hour just to get out of the city. The last time I had driven up that far was almost a year before (I don't own a car, so don't do this very often, obviously.) I couldn't believe how much worse the traffic situation had gotten in just one year! I have never seen it so bad. I really don't know how people who drive in the City do so and still retain their sanity.

Or why they do so. If you have to go out to the burbs for work, I can maybe understand it. But drive in the City? When the public transportation system is so easy to use and usually so efficient, and so much more affordable than having to park somewhere in Manhattan? It's beyond me why anyone would want to put themselves through that anguish.

Kudos to Mayor Bloomberg for trying to alleviate this dreadful situation several years ago with his brilliant attempt at congestion pricing. Too bad there was so much opposition to even trying it. I predict we have not seen the last of that intelligent proposal, which has already alleviated horrendous traffic -- and pollution -- in other major cities around the world.

Voices of the Subways

You know that pleasant voice you hear while standing on the subway platforms telling  you when the next train will be arriving? Here's an article about the lady behind that voice,  from The NY Times:

N.Y. / Region

City Room: Announcing the Subway Announcement Lady

By JAMES BARRON

Published: November 14, 2010

She's the voice of the subways, but she prefers to take a cab.

This reminds me of some of the other "voices" I've gotten to know over the years during my many subway travels. My personal favorite was when I used to take the R train every morning to a job I held down in the Village.  (I remember I was on that train the morning of 9/11 as the train inched forward every few seconds and they told us there was "police activity" at the World Trade Center. But I digress.) The conductor, who I only caught glimpses of over the years, had apparently devised his own signature phrases over the God-only-knows-how-many-years he had been doing the job. And he was extremely confident in using the same announcements each and every morning, peppering the ride with a quick reminder every so often, or barking an order when the subway doors opened at the next station.

My favorites of his that I still remember clearly today:

"Step in on the R!"

and

"Panhandling on the subway's illegal, that's-a.... panhandling on the subway's illegal."

And then there was that plea for riders to respect the elderly and disabled, ending with a clipped, "Give up your seat!"