Monday, May 07, 2007

Shaving off 4 minutes.

Riding the Subway- PhD lesson #1

Conventional wisdom says that train transfers are slow you down.

Case Study- You are riding from Franklin St. (in Brooklyn) on the C train and you need to get to Spring Street. Fastest route? Stay on the C. Both are local stops.

Case Study 2- You are riding the train from Franklin Street (in Brooklyn) to W4 th. It is only one stop farther on the C than Spring Street. What is the fastest route? Conventional wisdom says, "stay on the C." Aha, says I... Switch at Jay Street to a waiting F-train and you bypass all of lower Manhattan. Today I saved about 4 minutes. I'd like to do a test next time Kitty and I go to the Village. I'll do the switch at Jay Street and she will stay on the C-train and we'll see who gets there faster.

Yes, these are the esoteric issues that plague New Yorkers after they have mastered the basics of the transit system.

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