Physiological and psychological comparisons to comparable above ground transit would likely provide easy proof.

People hunker down and tune out until the ordeal is over.

but yes, the design of most cars needs to be improved.

The right angle seats do not make for the most seats because they do not account for the fact that not everybody is the same size. Moreover, they reduce standing area, and create obstacles for people trying to move in or through the car. They’re a terrible design.

I’m a medium-sized adult male. I’m not huge. Of the five possible spots in the cars that have the right angle arrangement, I only fit in two of them (really only one comfortably). On the bench style seats, there’s a much greater chance that I’ll be able to sit without getting completely smushed.

Change “Move all the way into the train” and “Step all the way in”
to “Once you get in, don’t stop moving. Let people behind you get in.”

Yeah, they’re longer, to say, but I would bet that they’re about 50% more meaningful to most people and would be about 50% more effective.

Seating is very important for the elderly, infirm, and those with long commutes. I hate the long bench style seating in the new N Trains where seating space depends on passengers willingness to move over voluntarily, it doesn’t work. The seating on the F and D allows for the most seating and does not depend on “making space” by people already seated.

I was going to make this point earlier, but knew it would elicit exactly the response it already has. However, you can disapprove of people that cluster near doors, etc. (I certainly do) and advocate a continually evolving design that takes those troublemakers into account. What motivates their behavior, and how can good behavior be encouraged and rewarded? (The nagging announcements and signs in stilted language are not working!) Social mechanisms, including the maligned concept of guilt, are crucial to maintaining a pleasant environment for everyone, but the overcrowding and unpredictability of the subway pushes that machinery to the breaking point.

I think that displaying reliable information about train arrivals in the stations will do a lot to help people behave better. We should be able to see that when the L’s system is finished and has established credibility.

as for overhead racks, sorry, this is NOT the LIRR or MetroNorth.

1. More doors = fewer seats = more people standing = more people refusing to move out of the doors because they want to lean on the doors when they close.
2. It’s a behavior problem, not a subway-car design problem. All people have to do is step out onto the platform for a moment, but they don’t want to.

How long do you think those would last in New York?

Just as long. Paris and London can be just as mean places as New York. I’m sick of this question. Why on earth would you think New York would be different?

I sometimes do “engage” other passengers. It goes like this: “Excuse me, could I ask you please to turn your music down a little?” “Are you kidding? Fuck you, this is a public place I can do what I want.”

The “this is a public place” justification is a consistent thread in the responses to almost any request, which I find completely dumbfounding. I always thought you were supposed to be considerate of others in public, but apparently, there’s a plurality that believes 180 degrees the opposite. That and “it’s because I’m [insert ethnicity here], isn’t it. Fuck you go sit somewhere else.”

That’s what I find so weird and dispiriting — that people can be so self-righteous about their impositions on others. I’m not perfect. I do stuff that’s selfish and annoying, too, sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. But if I’m called on it, I don’t act like it’s my right to do these things and that others have no business voicing their displeasure. Weird.

“One man’s unfairly discriminated-against behavior is another man’s display of bad manners. Eating on the subway is plainly the latter, as far as I’m concerned. And we’re slobs compared to Europeans or Asians, for the most part – hence our dirty subways.”

I can’t speak for Asians, but we’re definitely slobs compared to London transit users. I wish I understood what it is about moving to New York that makes people feel this unavoidable need to leave their fucking garbage everywhere.