We already have signs in my station that I think will one day tell me when the next train is coming, but now all they do is tell the time and date, and occasionally repeat the same “important message” from 2005 about random bag searches.

An LED screen in front of each bank of turnstiles, or in the back of the token booth, could announce any service outages, controlled by the dispatchers. Assuming that every token booth has an IP connection to a central server room, you could do it using off-the-shelf parts for $1000 per unit, plus $5000 each for a server and two redundant backups. Altogether less than a million dollars, plus installation and maintenance.

FORGET TEXT-MESSAGING. Order MTA workers to put up strategic signs. Last Sat./early Sun. about 1am, at 14th ST. 1,2,3 lines, people waited for the uptown 1, vainly, on the — silly us! — the uptown 1 line. It was only after a couple of 1 trains were seen on the downtown side going uptown did some people hone their instincts to go to the downtown side to get uptown. I looked for signs, there were only about two poles that said this, not in clear sight at all, and not on the side of the poles facing the platform. Fire that transit worker! FORGET ABOUT TEXT-MESSAGING! Put ALOT of signs at the turnstiles, at the token booth slot, at the stairwells. Don’t hide them! And CLEAR messages by someone who speaks good clear English, and yes, Spanish translation too. This costs practically no money.

This morning, none of the machines were accepting cards at 96th st & Broadway, 103rd, and at 110th. A transit worker said the system was down. WHERE WERE THE SIGNS? I had no cash, and, booth attendants for reasons I cannot fathom in this century, can’t accept cards. I walked home two miles.

Here’s another subway running tip: If there’s no service at a station (mine’s the elevated 1 line at 125th St.), put a sign at the bottom of the stairs, instead of all the way at the top. I, like others, carry equipment to my job and, especially on days when the escalator is not working, would appreciate being told theres no trains before I make the hike.

If service stops on a train, please tell all the people waiting for the train. For this, you will need transit workers who are communicative and articulate, not someone who mumbles it once and goes away. I missed a class this way. I came down after a time to find that I was waiting in a roped off area. Yes, they roped off the area, without bothering to make sure that no one was waiting. This happened on a weeknight last summer.

And bike lanes — yes, get them, with protective meridians so the cabs don’t run us over, because believe me, they will try, from what I remember. But to further that point — and Transportation Alternatives and Critical Mass hate this — licenses for the bikers. Because THEY TOO will run you over and keep going, or yell at you to watch out. If bikers are not going to stop to see if you and your child are alright, and instead yell at you, then we need to license ourselves and to hold ourselves accountable.