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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Transit Politics: The Little Engines That Could Get Federal Funding
 
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The Macaroni
Dec 20, 2002
...it does nothing.

TapTheForwardAssist posted:

One point about automation: I love systems that have designated gates only for tap-systems. DC does not, so in tourist season it sucked when I was trying to get to work, and all four inbound gates in front of me are tied up by multiple members of the Swenson clan of North Dakota who spread out across all lanes trying to figure out which slot their paper card goes into so they can get over to the Smithsonian.
Dunno, I always thought it was even worse when tourists are trying to exit and fumble around trying to find their card/paper ticket so they can get out. I was in NYC recently and I can't imagine the riots that would ensue if you had to wait for people to tap/ticket to get out of a station. How many other major metro systems require an exit fare at every station? (Some like Boston might have one at the termination of a long line, but not at most stations.)

I used to have a fun commute: 15-minute drive to commuter rail, 1.5 hours to DC, 20-30min on DC metro. One way. Even got mentioned in a Post article. To be honest, as awful as it was, many days I prefer it to my 1.5-hour round-trip by car that I do now. :sigh:

Edit: Hah, I sound kind of dumb in my quote. I wasn't trying to say "TRAINS CAN'T POSSIBLY TRAVEL FOR TWO HOURS," I was trying to say "The MARC commuter train seems to have been designed for passengers to take a 30-45 minute trip. Any longer and those seats are massively loving uncomfortable."

The Macaroni fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Oct 18, 2016

* # ¿ Oct 18, 2016 18:46
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# ¿ May 10, 2024 07:41
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The Macaroni
Dec 20, 2002
...it does nothing.

Combed Thunderclap posted:

Hope I can make your day by saying that DC has obsoleted paper tickets, so the Swenson clan will be able to get on their merry way much quicker. :)
Oh nice, I hadn't realized this. You'll still see the Swenson clan bump into the exit gate and take an extra 5 minutes to figure out that they need their card again, but it's progress.

* # ¿ Oct 18, 2016 19:24
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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Transit Politics: The Little Engines That Could Get Federal Funding