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NYC MetroCard Machine Meltdown, Straphangers Powerless

Broken

For the second straight day, New York subway commuters were forced to endure a “widespread malfunction blocking the use of credit or debit cards to purchase MetroCards from subway station vending machines.” The 2,245 malfunctioning machines succeeded in “delaying commutes and sending thousands of frustrated riders back to the street in search of automated teller machines or change for a $20 bill.”

Paul J. Fleuranges, the chief spokesman for NYC Transit, admitted that this massive breakdown was unprecedented in its magnitude:

“By magnitude I mean to say three outages in three consecutive rush-hour periods over two days,” [Fleuranges] wrote in an e-mail message, adding that the malfunction involved “some sort of communication problem between the machines and where the transactions are ultimately processed.”

To make matters worse, many MTA workers weren’t made aware of the problem for hours. According to subway rider Torrey Whitman:

This morning at the Astor Place station, I had two clerks who told me to insert my card differently, even though customer after customer was stuck with the same problem … One of the clerks took the card out of my hand, put it into the slot in the machine and let it sit there, as if that would work.

The New York Times labels this systemic breakdown as the “Revenge of the MetroCard Machines” and goes on to ask, “What happens when the machines rebel?” - as if the MetroCard machines all decided to seize up simultaneously on their own. This is absurd, and demonstrates yet again the tendency of the New York Times to fawn and gush all over mass transit because its views mass transit as a superior form of personal transportation.

The reality is that machines don’t break down by themselves. They break down due to mishandling, disrepair, selection of faulty parts, neglect, and other human factors. When Paul J. Fleuranges states that there was “some sort of communication problem between the machines and where the transactions are ultimately processed,” what he means is that somewhere down the MTA food chain – from the grand wizard who designed the system to the low-level technican who serviced it – some human being screwed up.

As we’ve pointed out previously, New York is currently witnessing the highest increase in mass transit ridership since 1951, largely due to high gas prices. Unfortunately, over the past few months the MTA has provided these new subway commuters with what amounts to an in-depth training course on the primary disadvantage of mass transit commuting – decreased personal autonomy and self-determination.

Even taking into account the many drawbacks of auto commuting - inadequate highway capacity, horrendous traffic jams, structurally deficient infrastructure, carpool lanes, congestion pricing – the automobile (on average) affords much greater personal autonomy and self-determination than the subway. A driver has a much greater say in his departure time, route, speed, and cost of transportation.

Compare this to subway riders who are highly dependent on forces entirely beyond their control – subway station locations, departure schedules, routes, costs, and arrival times. As evidenced above, subway riders are particularly reliant on the skillsets of other human beings, particularly subway operators, repair crews, station managers, system admins, management bureaucrats, and so on. At virtually every stage of their commute, a subway commuter is beholden to some other person.

Sure, car drivers rely on the skillsets of other human beings too, for instance tollbooth collectors, road construction crews, highway planners, even other drivers. But it’s important to remember that car drivers enjoy much greater autonomy and self-determination. They purchase and operate their own vehicles, take care of their own repair and maintenance work, choose their own routes and speeds, and can begin their commutes at whatever time suites their needs. They have a much greater say in the end result.

This MetroCard machine meltdown – just the latest buffoonery from the MTA - demonstrates how far mass transit has to go before it can replace the automobile as the preferred mode of American transportation.

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