Ubie

Well, in about 9 hrs either there will or will not be a transit strike here in the big apple. personally, i don't believe it will happen but kinda hope it will. mostly i want it to happen so i'm forced to try and commute in cold, possibly snowy/rainy weather, otherwise i know i won't do it


anybody else planning on a bike commute tomorrow instead of riding the subway, just in case? i know i'll be going over the commuter tonight, checking the air in the tires, making sure i have fresh batteries for the lights, and most importantly finding my woolie boolies and leg warmers, not to mention my gloves, balaclava and windproof jacket

monsterkidz

I am praying that they settle tonight. A transit strike the week before Christmas would be horrible for this city. Putting aside all of the economic repercussions, it will also mean, more pedestrians on the streets, more taxis driving like idiots and more rookie commuters on bikes doing God knows what. If the TWU does strike tomorrow, I will be calling out sick and hoping that by Monday everything will be sorted out. The 1980 strike only lasted 11 days, so with all of the outside pressures, they will probably settle quickly after they do strike.

slvoid

If they strike tomorrow, I'll be having a normal commute.
Friday's the only day when I take the subway in to take a break anyway.

I wouldn't worry, after the snipers take out a few of the protesters, they'll get back to work...

boothroyd

of course, it just happens that one of my wheels gets screwed up today, and bike shop says it won't be ready until tomorrow...

there goes that plan!

jyossarian

Yup, I'll be riding tomorrow, strike or no strike. Supposed to be freezing rain in the morning which should make things interesting.

oboeguy

This is why you have more than one bike.

Uhh, seeing as I'm a student again, no commute for me. That was easy! I do still ride in the cold though (put in my 20 miles this afternoon). My better half won't have to (bike) commute if there's a strike -- she gets a day off if it happens.

bennyk

So she works for the MTA?

jyossarian

12:21 AM and no strike (yet) according to NY1. We'll see if that changes by the time I wake up. Good night.

carless

Here's a different take, I wish we had the commute options you take for granted. Not a dig, but 1/2 of NYC uses something other than a car to get to work. In the 6th largest country (California) in the world, the 4th largest city in the historic railroad capitol of the U.S. I will see 10 people go to work on a smooth 26 mile separate city accessible, well maintained path to downtown Sacramento. A few of these people will be homeless, a few will be roadies getting a few miles. The path goes underneath the 10th worst intersection in the country. https://phoenix.about.com/cs/car/a/intersections.htm and includes squirrels, deer, and 6 freezing days a year/it's sunny 90% of the time.
While this may be extreme to you, and I only visited the Bronx once, if the rest of the country did what you did, slvoid would be the announcer on Monday Night Football. Not to mention Subway would be kosher, and the Sopranos would be on Network.

slvoid

No strike... yet...

So what would be wrong with me announcing football?
"And he makes the pitch... it is no good! he is out!"

Ubie

Well, i rode the 'D' train in this morning, so if the strike happens i'm walking home tonight.

as for how New Yorkers usually get to work, this city simply would not exist as it does today without cheap mass-transit. i don't know the exact numbers of course, but there are only two people that regularly drive in to work, most take either the subway or use the PATH train and then walk the half mile to the office. i'm sure we can deal with a short-term strike if it comes to that, telecommute, temporary living with friends near work and carpooling, but if the entire subway were to shut down for say a year i believe the entire makeup of the city would change. anyway i'm rambling and sleepy, here coffee coffee coffee...

jyossarian

You ******** shmuck, that's hockey, not football!

Anyways, we're not unique in that the majority of people take the bus and subway to work, but our geography certainly helps. A strike would be disastrous because everyone uses it, from minimum wage earning restaurant workers and piecemeal paid garment workes to millionaire stock brokers on Wall St. Add to that the additional trips people make to go shopping during the holidays and you can see how it'd be disastrous. While many people could conceivable ride to work, many could not due to health factors, age and distance. The average commute may be less than 10 miles, but that includes the people taking the subway for one stop to the people taking the bus, ferry and subway all in the same trip. I'm glad to see the TWU sensibly keeping it's workforce working and avoiding penalties while negotiating w/ the MTA. The deadline for a general strike has been moved to Tues. at midnight so we'll see what happens between now and then.

oboeguy

Nope, but was told not to come in if there's a strike.

oboeguy

Yes, the city grew the way it did because of the development of mass transit, so being crippled by a transit strike is pretty much unavoidable.

I figured it would be more like, "That was a vicious tackle. He should take out his .44 and blow the tackler away for that!"

jyossarian

LOL Kinda reminds me of that scene in the Last Boyscout where the player runs down field, pulls a .44 and blows an opposing player away.