Subways

Or, Five. Five dollar. Five dollar sub-fare.

Over the past few weeks I made my way to Boston and Washington, D.C. and got to utilize their respective rail systems (the T and Metro) a good amount. I have to say that I found riding the T to be a much better experience (despite it being an older system) thanks mostly to the bustling and vibrant atmosphere underground. Where the T had vendors and art, the Metro had dark brown signs reminding you not to drink or eat and brutalist architecture.

Maybe this has to do with the system being located in the nation's capital (no tomfoolery allowed), but it all seemed a little excessive. Being underground in the D.C. stations left me thinking that adding a human touch could go a long way.

Then again, it got me where I needed to go relatively quickly and for only a few bucks.

Here is a site passed on to me by a friend that has some wonderful images from subway stations around the world. Maybe one day D.C. will renovate their system to make the underground experience a little less depressing!

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/8346/subway-architecture.html

Look for future blogs on the impact increased ridership might have on current subway infrastructure and on the question of 'how hard is it to add new lines to current systems?' For the latter post, I'll look at how subway construction in Buffalo, NY killed a once vibrant part of the downtown.

I know my experiences on these systems (and most other large city subways) are limited - so if you know them better I'd be interested to hear your impressions.