metro

NYC Subway vs. San Francisco BART

We arrived in New York City a couple of days ago. As we got close to the city, traffic was so bad that it took about an hour and a half to drive the last eight miles. This reinforced our decision to not drive in NYC again until we were leaving. So we parked the van and the next day we purchased a weekly pass for the subway system; that’s all we’ve been using to explore the city.

Our experience with New York City transit was very good. We visited in early spring, in late March, and it snowed a couple of times during the week we were there. Our AirBnB was within walking distance from at least two subway stations (there may have been another station on another line, but we never had a need to look for it). After a short walk to one of the stations, which was easy enough even when it was snowing, trains showed up quickly and brought us anywhere in the city. It took us about 45 minutes to get from our AirBnB to anywhere in Manhattan.

Walking through snow toward the subway

Having lived in the Bay Area and ridden BART – the Bay Area Rapid Transit system – for many years, it’s interesting to see the differences between the two subway systems. For the most part, I would rate the New York system as superior. Not just for the obvious reason that the NYC metro system is much more extensive than BART, but the daily user experience is a bit better in various ways too.

For example, look at the photo below. In many of the NYC train cars, there is a map of the line you’re on, and it has little lights to show what stops remain in the direction you’re headed. One by one they go out as you leave for the next station. Plus, announcements are made over the PA system in the trains and passengers can actually hear and understand what is being said; this is often not the case on BART.

Subway directions sign

A one-way ride to anywhere in NY costs $2.75. On BART a one-way ticket from Pleasanton to San Francisco costs about $6.50, and that’s not the most expensive ride. Alternatively, in NY you can purchase an unlimited weekly pass for $32.00, which allows as many on and off trips as you want. There’s no such thing as an unlimited pass on BART.

Most importantly, trains run very frequently. Some lines run every 2-5 minutes! On BART, the train to Pleasanton runs every 15-20 minutes, depending on whether it’s peak travel time or not.

Other small things:

  • In NY, you need to swipe your card to enter the station but not to exit. This speeds up the exit process over BART.
  • Noise – have you noticed that the noise on some BART cars is deafening? The NY train cars are much quieter; not so quiet you forget you’re on a train, but at least they won’t make you go deaf.
  • Why does BART insist on having padded seats? Padded seats are harder to keep clean and easier to vandalize. NY has traditional, hard plastic seats, which are fine for commuting and easier to maintain.

The main area where BART surpasses the NY subway is that the ClipperCard ticket system is nicer to use than paper tickets, which NY still relies on. And finally, as dirty as BART is, it seems to be slightly cleaner overall than the NY system.

We’re having a great time exploring New York by train!

Inside the subway system

Mexico City

We decided to get out of our small town for a while, so we drove to Mexico City and spent ten days there. It’s a thoroughly modern, cosmopolitan city which also happens to have a lot of history visible at every turn.

We stayed on the 32nd floor of a high rise just a couple years old (it’s the red one):

Mexico City apartment towers

Here’s a view of the sunrise from inside our apartment:

Mexico City sunrise

We were within walking distance of every amenity – multiple grocery stores, shopping malls, Starbucks, the Soumaya Museum of Art:

Soumaya Museum of Art

The Soumaya Museum of Art was funded by Carlos Slim, one of the richest people in the world. It contains art from around the world representing many genre’s and eras. We went back a second day because we didn’t get to see everything on our first visit.

We visited the National Anthropology Museum, the pyramids of the sun and moon at Teotihuacan, the basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and more. Sometimes we drove, sometimes we walked, and we rode the metro. Walking to the metro was a lot like walking on the Iron Horse trail to BART. Here’s a photo of the path:

Walkway to the subway

Overall we had a great time, but as they say, “it’s a nice place to visit”. Even though it had everything you could possibly want, just as in any other large, cosmopolitan city around the world, it was a bit large and crowded and busy for me. That’s not to say we won’t visit again, but as for living, I’m enjoying our small town life for now.