Here is something new.. Attendants on a subway train serving snacks and beverages? Yeah.. That’s what happened in Toronto’s subway.. This past Sunday, Improv Toronto decided to put a fun twist in an otherwise mundane ride on the city’s subway ride to make it memorable for the riders. As they said on the website, “Our mission was simple, transform the old every day nature of riding the subway into a luxury flight experience, making it more a comfortable, enjoyable, and eventful ride.” So, off they went, equipped with snacks, drinks and blankets, our sharp looking flight subway attendants and captain tended to the riders on a Eastbound train on the Bloor Line.
Looking at the warm welcoming smiles on the riders’ faces, I wouldn’t be surprised if this stunt gets emulated globally much like the No Pants Subway Ride , another popular Improv stunt. BTW, worn out Washington, DC Metro riders like me can sure get used to some TLC like this..
Someone posted a series of these pics on Reddit and I’m sharing the two below because they had a transportation connection..Just beautiful! Life captured in motion is quite poetic! Also check out more photos from this series posted on My Modern Metropolis
And here is a video posted on the source website (Dancersamongus)..
Oh , how I wish our boring commutes are as fun as this one. New Yorkers are a bunch of lucky ba**ards! What a marked and striking contrast from the violent London transportation system. A little investigation by enthusiastic Redditors revealed that the singer is Jessica Latshaw. Here is Jessica blogging about her Subway jammin’ experience on her blog.
If the centuries old New York City Subway can do this, why not in DC’s relatively new and modern subway system? That would make many commutes productive and possibly serve as an incentive for region’s drivers to shed the cars and take the trains to work. I can’t imagine a better town than DC for adopting this technology, because on any given day we have more folks commuting with their Laptops, iPods, iPads, e-readers, etc. It is a shame that we still can’t get the cellphones to work inside the tunnels for more than one carrier.
With the days of paid Wi-Fi clearly numbered, what business models are there for transit agencies and wireless service provider partners to consider? In the first part of several installments, this week we’ll look at Transit Wireless LLC, which is rolling out wireless networks in New York’s extensive subway system.
In 2007, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) awarded a 10-year communication infrastructure contract to Transit Wireless LLC — a conglomerate of construction and wireless companies — that would bring mobile phone and Wi-Fi service to the 277 stations within the city’s subway system. NYCTA’s parent, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, approved the contract in September 2007 but did not give the official notice to proceed until July this year. The project stalled due to lack of sufficient funding, but was restarted after financing was provided by Broadcast Australia, a Sydney-based multinational that also installed wireless in Hong Kong’s subway. Broadcast Australia, in turn, is controlled by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in a convoluted chain of ownership. Under the terms of the original 2007 deal, the NYCTA would earn in excess of $45 million from an estate lease over the 10-year term; Transit Wireless will cover all network construction costs and generate revenue from mobile carriers such as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, who would provide cellular service over the Transit Wireless network.
The whole roll-out is expected to cost around $250 million including the payments to the NYCTA; work will commence on the first six stations in Manhattan by September, with live service expected in all six within two years. The remaining 271 stations will be completed within the next six years, although a spokesman for Transit Wireless stated that up to 15 stations a month could be outfitted during the rolling program. Phone and Wi-Fi coverage will be available only in the stations, on platforms and part-way into adjacent tunnels; the contract does not stipulate contiguous coverage throughout the subway system. In addition to consumer services, the Transit Wireless solution will serve public safety organizations by providing the source of a cell phone’s signal within a station, improving incident response times.
The study aims to help researchers understand how toxic chemicals and lethal biological agents could spread through the nation’s oldest subway system in a terrorist attack airflow and also help in studying the characteristics for smoke or unintentional spills of chemicals or fuels.
BOSTON — Scientists are releasing gases and fluorescent particles into Boston’s subway tunnels on Friday to study how toxic chemicals and lethal biological agents could spread through the nation’s oldest subway system in a terrorist attack.
It’s part of a weeklong study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to figure out ways to quickly minimize the impact of an airborne assault on the nation’s 15 subway systems and protect the nation’s infrastructure. U.S. subway systems include 810 miles of track in tunnels and accounted for about 3.45 billion trips taken last year, according to the American Public Transportation Association.
The scientists are monitoring concentration of the gases — which are invisible to the naked eye and nontoxic — and particles as they move throughout the system and then up into the streets above, pushed by turbulence created by trains thundering through the tunnels. Researchers use electronic devices to take air samples at more than 20 Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority stations and in subway cars.
Test results will be used to craft ways to quickly detect an attack so authorities can shut down subways to limit the spread of contaminants.
Federal officials say similar tests were conducted in 2008 in the Washington, D.C., area, serving as an excellent contrast to the Boston study. The Massachusetts subway system, which opened its first tunnels in 1897, is poorly ventilated, while Washington’s is relatively modern and well-ventilated, DHS officials said.
Those fun-loving & fun making folks at Improv Everywhere are at it again — this time they invaded a New York City subway car, treating passengers to a reenactment of the first Princess Leia/Darth Vader scene from Star Wars. Check this out:
It’s priceless to watch the reaction of fellow riders in the train. Good people of NYC seem to enjoy the fun ride! Why does this not happen in DC.. Argh! OUr boring (at times menacing) commutes could do a makeover like this once in a while!
