Friday, October 8, 2010

Welcome to the machine(s)

In preparation for Sunday's Select Bus service debut on the M15, an MTA crew worked on Second Avenue near 14th Street on the artificially intelligent machines that will seek to exterminate what is left of the human race.




And, well, maybe this is just me... but why are the machines this far away from the actual bus stop...? I'm sure there's a good reason for this that I'm just not processing at the moment... anyone?



4 comments:

Chris said...

I'm pretty sure they're moving the M15 SBS (formerly the M15 Limited) stop to the end of the block and keep the local at the current stop, much like what is done at 14th & 1st. I could be wrong, but they've still got a weekend to change the sign.

Anonymous said...

The M15 SELECT will stop at 13th St. That's why the machines are there. The original bus stop at 14th St. will be for the M15 Local.

We discussed this in another thread. People noted that by moving the stop to the end of the block, it added an extra travel distance between bus transfers, a potential problem for the handicapped and elderly. Unfortunately, if they put both bus lines at the same stop, it would be chaos. I would occasionally take the old M9 west to Union Square, and when the bus turned on 3rd Ave to continue west on 13th, you wouldn't believe how many people got freaked out because they thought they were on a crosstown bus, or the numbers of people who tried to board at that (next to last) stop, thinking the bus was traveling south on 3rd Ave.

A lot of people just ain't too sharp.

nygrump said...

Some moron in a office somewhere probably did a study that showed if the machines are too convenient people might actually begin to think the State exists to support the citizens, not the other way around as it actually is.

EV Grieve said...

@anon Thanks... I did forget that we mentioned the placement in the previous thread...