Metropolitan Transportation Authority Reviews 5

I walk out of the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria at 9pm and try to catch the same bus home that I took to get there. For some reason, it's a 10 minute walk, but you know what, that's fine, it might be that I just didn't know where to catch it. But after I walk for 10 minutes, I sit on a bench near the bus stop and find that service on the Q19 bus has already ended. At 9pm, in the city that never sleeps! So I get to walk back the way I came and get on a train, somehow a stop north of where I was in the first place. And the a 14 minute wait, which turns into 25 minutes, when the train just moseys in 10 minutes after the automated sign said it would. And here I thought they would offer decent service in Astoria, it's a nice neighborhood and all.

But okay, I guess not. So I get on the N to LIC and then a 7. It's now 11pm, there are no seats on the 7, and at every stop, some rude a*shole plows into the crowd because they're just so eager to enjoy a train ride like the one I'm enduring that they can't get the hell out of the way when people are trying to exit the train.

But I'm not looking to take a local train across Queens, so I jump off at Roosevelt Avenue for an express. But the E and F are both running local already, because of course they are.
But fine. I take an F local (which is a thing that shouldn't be) to Forest Hills and watch a Q74 bus roll past the first stop on its route so fast he looked like he was being chased. Then I wait 10 minutes for a Q64 which, at long last, brings me home.

In other words, the MTA can eat a big bag of d*cks.

It's the worst . I've stuck on the train for 1 hour and all they can say " we're gonna move shortly, apologize for inconvenience ". Service delays are constant. Where all the money go? No improvement over the years.

There are so many things wrong with the MTA I am not even sure where to start. Their machines often do not work. First, they've begun taking MetroCard machines out so when the new Omny card machines aren't working there's no way to get on the train. Under no circumstances should you tap your phone to pay, ESPECIALLY if you have a phone that automatically enables express transit BECAUSE LISTEN CLOSELY THE MTA WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY AND NOT GIVE IT BACK.

Second, the sheer volume of homeless people is incredibly heartbreaking. The MTA doesn't care but continues to beg the state for more money all the while doing nothing to clean up the very subway system they routinely hold over New Yorkers' heads to get to work. And don't worry if you have a car the MTA is coming for you too! They do charge to get into Manhattan among other things things bringing the sheer scale of their money-grabbing operation to such heights that they should be hit with a RICO charge! No matter how you spin it how you dangle it THE MTA OWNS NEW YORK. DO NOT LET THE POLITICIANS LIE ANYMORE. WE ARE BEHOLDEN TO A CENTURIES OLD TRANSIT AGENCY THAT UNIRONICALLY WAS ONLY MOST RECENTLY CLEANED DURING THE PANDEMIC NOT BEFORE.

Third, for at least the second or third time in recent years, the MTA soon plans to raise its pricing again. Moral of the story? WALK OR CITIBIKE TO YOUR DESTINATION!

If you MUST get on the subway use a CREDIT CARD so you have recourse if something happens. They do not give any kind of cash refunds.

Subways are dirty and somewhat dangerous in NYC, but we wanted to buy metro cards before we got to NYC, so we don't have to pull money out in a dark station. The MTA does not sell metro cards online, that's pretty sad. Not sure what they are thinking.