March 30, 2004
Break Over and High Turnstiles
So my week break from ScaryNY is over. It was nice, but I did feel the urge to post a few times. I'm glad I didn't. A little time away can do wonders to get a fresh view on things. Why the break? Well, I was a victim of a crime. Not a big deal and it could've been much worse than it was. The whole story isn't over yet, but I'll write something up once it is. I've gotten a pretty interesting view of how the NYPD works cases and generally deals with the public.
All that said, here's something that occurred to me over the weekend. Let's say there's a fire or attack or [insert general emergency here] in a subway station. Let's say the station only has the High Entry/Exit Turnstiles (HEETs), as the MTA likes to call them. I don't know the exact number, but there are a ton of stations that only feature those types of turnstiles or at least have one set of them.
Those things will not be able to handle the volume of evacuating commuters. No way. What's a straphanger to do? Again, I think this proves that the MTA is the weakest link in terms of emergency preparedness.
Movie of how slow those exits can be (featuring some wicked awesome, 80s sci-fi/thriller music).
Chiba at SubText snapped a nice photo of a HEET at his home station. Take a look.
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General
posted by at March 30, 2004 9:01 PM
