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Tags: Public Transportation / Dubai Travel / Subways / → All Tags
Dubai's First Subway Opens, And Not Of The Cold Cut Combo Variety
Dubai is a city of many superlatives, and as a result of their trying to build for themselves a great entertaining metropolis, the city seems constantly under construction. At least one major product was finished this month however, as the Arabian Gulf's first metro system opened on 09/09/09, transporting more than 366,968 in its first week and some 60,000 people this last Friday alone.
The metro is comprised of 11 trains and two lines, green and red, and is already seeing congestion with passengers more than eager to leave their cars at home. The five busiest stations even have attendants wearing "ask me" buttons; they are: Al Rashidya station, City Center, Union Square, Mall of Emirates and Nakheel Harbour and Tower. According to PSFK, "Dubai has been attempting to diversify its oil-dependent economy for some time... [and] has come to be seen by many as a leader in forging the Gulf’s way to more sustainable infrastructural development."
Tags: Subways / Public Transportation / Fare Hikes / New York City Travel / Hotels / → All Tags
NYC Bus and Subway Rides Now Cost $2.25 Each Time You Swipe
You better bring a little extra spending dough when you come to New York this summer. After months of speculation, the NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority has bumped up the price of a one-way bus and subway fare from $2 to $2.25. This is less than the initial proposal of $2.50 but still crappy all the same.
The new prices go into effect on June 28. And it's not just mass transportation that will be affected. There will also be a taxi surcharge increase of 50 cents.
Fortunately, one hotel is trying to take the sting out of the fare hike. The Wyndham Garden Hotel Manhattan Chelsea, a new property which just opened last fall, is offering guests who stay a minimum of two nights a complimentary one-day MetroCard and customized step-by-step (literally) subway and bus directions from HopStop.com. Although we suggest practicing your passback with your hotel roomie before you hit up the subway turnstiles, just so you aren't in our way when we're coming through.
Rates at the hotel start at $189 a night. Use the promo rate plan "SUBWAY" to book online.
Related Stories:
· Do Not Want: Possible New York Subway Fare Hike [Jaunted]
[Photo: phrenologist]
Tags: New York City / Subways / Public Transportation / → All Tags
Do Not Want: Possible New York Subway Fare Hike
For once, the New York subway air is thick with a different stench. Today, the city sits on the edge of its seat and sniffs the acrid wafts of a rumor coming true: the transit authority is voting for a fare hike. Although we won't hear the official word until later today, when they've exhausted all options for bailout plans and tired of tap dancing around budgets, the proposed 25% hike will mean some serious shelling out for commuters and tourists alike.
If there's one major benefit to such price increases in public transportation, it's that more people consider biking and walking, but as everyone knows, New York has this problem with erratic drivers and terrorizing taxis. Then there are the tourists, who thrive on the single ride cards and yet jump around the city in tune with their guidebooks. With the subway prices going from $2.00 a ride to $2.50, a family of four would do well to budget $50 for a day of sightseeing. To calculate how this will impact everyone underneath the blue skies of the five boroughs, Gothamist has arranged a neat list:
Tags: Walking Tours / Brooklyn / Subways / → All Tags
Explore the World's Oldest Subway Tunnel
Even though New York has more exciting neighborhoods than just about anywhere else in the world, it can still be frustratingly difficult to find anywhere undiscovered, because everything is so overly-documented.
So here's one walking tour activity you won't find in your Lonely Planet book: climb down a manhole underneath Brooklyn's busy Atlantic Avenue and inside the world's oldest subway tunnel.
The Atlantic Avenue tunnel is a half-mile road that was built back in 1844, and then just completely forgotten about for decades until it was rediscovered in 1980. Today, Bob Diamond, who found the lost tunnel, takes groups down on expeditions. If you're already grossed out, we can say that at least from the photos, it looks a lot cleaner than any subway tunnel we've ever seen.
Tours take place once a month; the next one is Sunday, February 22. Bring a flashlight!
· Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tours [Brooklyn Rail]
· Walking tours coverage [Jaunted]
· Brooklyn travel coverage [Jaunted]
Photo: [Brooklyn Rail]
Tags: Public Transportation / Crime / CSI / Gerald McCullouch / Subways / → All Tags
Do Not Do: Travel With CSI's Gerald McCullouch
A high-profile mugging on the New York City subway, on one of the lines leading from JFK, is splashed all over the news today as an example of the city's dangerous public transportation system. But we say the NY media is just being their usual sensationalist selves, fueled by a publicity-hungry actor. Here's why we're not worried about riding the subway.
First, some background. Gerald McCullouch, who plays Bobby Dawson on "CSI: Original Flavor," was taking the A train back towards the city from the airport at 2am Saturday when he was allegedly attacked by a knife-wielding passenger. As the train pulled into the Utica Avenue stop in Brooklyn, McCulloch had his laptop open, on which he was editing a YouTube video and charging his iPhone. Cuz that's what we all do on a train from the airport at 2am, right?
Suddenly, a man approached him and and tried to snatch the laptop. The two men got into a fistfight, because, as McCulloch said:
I didn’t want to give up my computer after working on my video all that time.
Also McCullouch just happened to be boxing about eight hours before this incident so he was all punch drunk anyways. McCullouch said he managed to fend off his attacker, who was holding a 10-inch blade, until other passengers alerted the conductor to stop the train. Police boarded and arrested the alleged assailant on the spot.
Tags: Subways / Cell Phones / Public Transportation / 2012 Olympics / → All Tags
Subway Travel: London's Oyster Coming to Cell Phones
London's subway system got a bit more convenient to use (although no cheaper) when it started using stored-value Oyster cards to pay for your tickets. New trials with specially equipped cell phones could make our London Underground experience even easier.
Nokia and O2 joined forces to test out using cell phones that could be "read" by the same machines that people tap their Oyster card across. The 500 guinea pigs who tested the system were impressed: 89 percent would want such a system on their phones.
With the 2012 Olympics in London not all that far away (!), IOC officials are keen to make the technology widespread as part of their "cashless Olympics" campaign. Of course, the other way to make the Olympics cashless is to make transport (and everything else) free. Any officials listening?
Related Stories:
· Oyster Phones a Step Nearer [Business Traveller]
· London Traffic [Jaunted]
· The Oh-So-Confusing London Subway [Jaunted]
[Photo: amandabhslater]
Tags: Subways / Public Transportation / Subivor / Travel Gear / → All Tags
NYC Subway Paranoia Gift Set
Are you a New York City Subway rider who's constantly plagued by fears of an another terrorist strike? Visiting town and don't want to get blown to bits? Well, you're in luck! Thanks to Subivor, you can save yourself in the event of a bombing or biological attack for the low, low price of $24.99!
Tags: Subways / Public Transportation / Flickr / → All Tags
The World's Best Communist Subways
Wired has a gallery featuring photos of some of the world's "most impressive" subway systems. Moscow clearly wins best in show with "chandeliers, marble moldings and elaborate murals" in some of the city's stations. Opulent subways must be a Communist thing, because Moscow's seems quite similar to the infamous Pyongyang Metro in North Korea.
Perhaps Pyongyang's public transit system was missing from Wired's list because foreigners are only allowed to tour it on closely guarded single-station trips. Still, the photos that have emerged from the secretive North Korean subway show more chandeliers, marble columns and great propaganda murals such as "The Great Leader Kim Il Sung Among Workers."
If seeing inspirational artwork during your morning commute doesn't get your day started off right, maybe you'd prefer a refreshing river cruise?
Related Stories:
· Gallery: The World's Most Impressive Subways [Wired]
· Pyongyang Metro [Official Site]
· Public Transportation coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of the Pyongyang Metro: Pricey]
Tags: Public Transportation / Subways / → All Tags
Public Transit Travel: NYC Searches Couch Cushions For Missing $3 Billion
Riders still complaining about New York's public-transit fare hike now have something new to shake their fists at: The Metropolitan Transit Authority is scaling back on making systemic changes thanks to a $3 billion budget shortfall. Rising construction costs are to blame, according to AM New York, which means the MTA won't be sprucing up stations or buying new trains and signals.
The March 1 fare hike has already been knocked for disproportionately affecting commuters over tourists, and for changing the bonus structure so that no one can figure out how to get the free rides which are part of the pricing scheme. (The magic number on that is $40, by the way.)
Is asking for tips next?
Related Stories:
· MTA Faces Budget Gap of $3 B [AMNY]
· Public Transportation coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of the G train: animalvegetable]
