Recently I posted this article on another social network site that discusses the modern open gangway subway cars the New York MTA will experiment with in the coming years. I also posted that I hope the Washington DC WMATA will follow suit as the subway cars they use are not in this open gangway configuration. Here is another article that discusses how the major USA metro systems are basically ignoring this technology and the advantages it brings.
Even if USA systems still wanted individual cars, the car seating arrangements could be re-worked to open the layout and provide more space for passengers. With Washington DC's metro system, you often have to climb over other passengers to get to open seats or have them climb over you. The open gangway arrangement solves this instantly.
Also, at least in the Seoul metro system, there is a long shelf above most of the seating areas, perfect for storing your bags if you have a long commute. I often witnessed people taking up seating space with bags or luggage on the Washington DC metro system as it is cumbersome to place bags on the floor or hold them if the cars are crowded. You may think, won't my bag get stolen if left all by its lonesome on the above seat shelving...well...at least in Seoul, theft is not a major concern.
Another knock on the WMATA - WHY WOULD YOU CARPET A METRO CAR!?. The carpet can hold dust, germs, bacteria, and is harder to clean and dry. WHY!? Now, some other major systems also use fabrics but only on the seats. Most of Seoul's subway system has simple plastic seating. What fabric company is falling over itself trying to get its product in these cars that the WMATA buys? NOTE: Apparently the WMATA recently rolled out some new stock cars that do not have carpeting on the floor of the cars but the cars are still not in the open gangway configuration.
Basically, why does it take so long for these systems to improve their safety, security, sanitary level, and efficiency. As for the MTA, I would take a safer, modern, sanitary, secure, and efficient system over charging ports in the train cars any day. I realize that there is a ton of infrastructure that has to be built, many laws and negotiations that must be followed, and tons of money spent. But really, at the end of the day it seems like just some common sense would help a lot of these aging systems.
I could write about this topic for much longer but I'll save you by stopping here.
What are your gripes about public metro systems? I will say that some of Seoul's metro stations are extremely large so it can take a long time to transfer lines but otherwise, no real complaints :D
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