this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2026
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Mildly Interesting

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[–] DupaCycki@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)

As a European, I absolutely love public transit. But I'm not gonna lie, I'd never even approach an American subway station. That shit looks, and to some degree functions, like medieval dungeons.

[–] hraegsvelmir@ani.social 2 points 23 hours ago

That shit looks, and to some degree functions, like medieval dungeons.

As criticism, this one kind of confuses me. I've taken public transit in the UK, Oslo in Norway and Istanbul in Turkey, and major transit hubs seem pretty similar in terms of design. Getting to the train platform from the airport to Oslo proper feels like taking the endless series of escalators to reach the Long Island Rail Road in Grand Central. The metro stations near where I was staying in Istanbul wouldn't have looked terribly out of place in the Bronx or Brooklyn.

The major difference was that the stations and vehicles outside of the US were kept much cleaner, and people actually showed consideration for one another while using it. People would queue up in a more orderly fashion, let others disembark before trying to rush in, and there wasn't anybody (aside from one kid in Oslo on the last tram for the night one day) blasting music or TikTok videos on their phones. Even on the occasions where I encountered homeless people in those systems, it was night and day between what you deal with in the US and what you see over there. That, and the systems were way more developed than what we have in the US. I don't just mean in terms of destinations or the sheer reach of the transit systems, but that you'll have cities with metros, trams, buses, light rail and inter-city high speed rail options all within (mostly, aside from the weirdness of the UK) a single system, giving you tons of options to get around.

In short, I'd be less worried about the apparently sinister design of the stations in an American subway system, and more concerned that you have to share that system with Americans.

[–] Einskjaldi@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

It's very different if you're looking at NYC or high volume subway on East Coast v a smaller bus or subway station not in top tier city. The busiest subways trend to be nicer than small ones.

[–] Hueristic_Autistic@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

The MBTA (Boston and Greater Boston Transit) = polish a turd, it's still a turd.

[–] Einskjaldi@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I would be happy to take the subway in Boston any day. It beats driving.

[–] Hueristic_Autistic@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Depends on where you're going. If you had to get to Atrius in Somerville from Melrose you're better off driving. Otherwise you're taking the bus to the orange line to take the red line. When if you drove or even used an ebike you're better off because of how much mroe of a straight shot there it is.

I know, leave earlier but you can't pay me to think that an hour and a half bus and train commute to what could be a 16 min drive or a 23min ebike ride is more convenient, easy and worth any of the shit that comes with it.