With the exception of certain slimy, hot summer days when you stand on the platform and
sweat like you’re in a Turkish bath, I love riding the subway. If ever there was a way to experience New York City life
in its most concentrated form, it’s riding the subway around Manhattan and into the boroughs. When you look at it that
way and put a price on it, the $2 per ride fee isn’t so bad. But maintaining that positive, romantic notion of subway
travel is, of course, impossible to do on a day to day basis. And so $2 starts to look pretty steep day after day.
Me, I probably ride the subway EVERY single day at least once, probably more like twice. Which means my transport
bill starts to add up. But this winter, I just learned
from this piece in the Times, frequent transit travelers like myself may get a bit of a reprieve.
The Times reports that the agency that runs the subway and bus system here, the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority, will reduce subway fares by half, bringing them down to a nice round dollar. Unfortunately, not only will
this only be temporary over the holidays, but it will only be effective on weekends between Thanksgiving and New Year’s
Day. Not perfect, but I’ll take it.
According to the piece they are doing this to encourage the use of mass transit, to relieve traffic during the holiday
season, and help out the folks who use fossil fuels.
This is good news if you’re planning a trip to New York for the holidays…something I always recommend.