Public Transportation: Washington D.C.

Usually, I love public transportation, but recently, it’s been bothering me. Maybe it’s just that D.C. public transportation is terrible, which is making me angry. Whatever the case, I can’t stand it recently.

First off, the price. D.C. has the most expensive public transportation I have ever taken in my life. It’s based on distance, which is sensible, but the base prices are just way too high. The lowest possible fare is still more expensive than any fare you would find in Seoul for a comparable distance traveled.

According to the WMATA (D.C. Metro’s servicer), the price for fares during off-peak hours is this:

• $1.75 minimum + a $1 surcharge if a paper farecard is used

During peak hours, which is when most people will be traveling, of course, it’s this:

• $2.15 minimum + a $1 surcharge if a paper farecard is used

In Seoul, the cost is 1,150 won, which is about a dollar or so. Also, it’s a flat fare unless you really start moving out of the main city area, in which case, the price goes up unsubstantially.

In Tokyo, the minimum cost is about $1.50 with the maximum cost being around $3.

This seems comparable until you look at the maximum fares for the D.C. metro. Fares in the D.C. area go up significantly based on the distance traveled. Here are the maximum fares during both off-peak and peak hours:

• $3.60 maximum + a $1 surcharge if a paper farecard is used
• $5.90 maximum + a $1 surcharge if a paper farecard is used

$6 to ride the subway? Are you kidding me? That’s absurd. Assuming you’re from out of town and you don’t know what you’re doing and you happen to buy all paper farecards (which happens), you’re paying an extra $1 per ride.

This maximum fare price isn’t some magical land of Oz number that never happens either. To go to work from my house, I pay $4. I only ride one line, too. No transfers needed. And it’s $4. That’s $8 a day. For those who have to make transfers, and those who live quite a distance away from their destination, they will be paying closer to the $6 maximum. Who can afford this? Not everybody in the D.C. area is some rich bigwig. I am sure am not. It’s no surprise that some people try to get a free fare whenever possible.

I could understand such a high price if the subways were lined with flower petals, gave out free food and shoe shines and smelled of lavender, but obviously, this isn’t the case.

The only worse subway system I have ever been on is the New York City subway system, which was simply a disgusting mess. At least NYC’s subways actually worked, though. D.C.’s subways are the most unreliable transportation system I have ever taken. Even the trains and buses that travel the back roads of Thailand are more reliable.

Fortunately for me, I ride a pretty straightforward route. There are no transfers, and the side of town that I come from is less crowded than the other side. For those coming from the west side, they have a much more difficult time. Countless delays mar the subway system on a daily basis over there, and I know people who have waited for over thirty minutes for their train to move.

The problem comes from the way that the subway system is designed. Many of the subway’s lines travel through the same tracks. This creates multiple problems. For one, when you have a delay, it delays not only the trains on the line you’re traveling on, but it delays trains on the other colored lines. This creates a compounding problem where one delay creates delays for the rest of the day for all of the lines that travel along that track.

Although, since there is no order whatsoever, I guess it creates consistency out of chaos. When none of the trains arrive at the expected times, trains simply run when they can, and they eventually show up at the station. Thus, the unreliability of trains makes them consistently sporadic, which becomes the new norm. Compared to Japan and Korea’s impeccable punctuality in their subway systems, though, D.C.’s system is substandard and ineffective.

Besides the delays that are caused by having all of the trains run on one track, it makes track upkeep much more crucial to providing a more reliable service. I suppose, in the long run, it means employing less workers because there are less tracks to service, but if that’s the case, then why is the price so high? What exactly is my money paying for when the service I receive is worse in every way than every other country with public transportation; yet it still costs more?

As an aside, each station only employs a couple different escalators for passengers to use. Those, too, are oftentimes broken down. Many of them are shut down completely for repairs, so you can’t even use them as stairs if you want to. This railroads people getting off of trains, creating a large line to wait for escalators when trying to leave a station.

Unfortunately, despite all of the problems that people have with the public transportation in D.C., what can they do about it? If everyone takes their cars, then commuting would be impossible. There are also no places to park in D.C. You are basically expected to take public transportation, walk or ride a bike. Most cars in D.C. are typically just driving through to a different destination. It’s a terrible place for cars, as can be expected in most large cities.

Because of this, WMATA can pretty much charge as much as they want for their services, so long as they don’t incite a riot from commuters. Some people working for the government and other jobs also get transit subsidies, which keeps them complacent enough. For everyone else, it’s quite the gimmick. With no way of transportation into the city other than public transportation, people are required to pay the absurd prices WMATA charges, and they can’t do anything about it.

At least the buses are cheaper than the subway, but they are quite unreliable, as well. Bus schedules are also much more confusing than subway schedules, and bus travel times are typically longer. So, I’m not sure if buses are a reasonable alternative to taking the subway.

WMATA simply needs to charge reasonable prices for their services, a mantra that U.S. businesses should actually consider embracing. The American people are being gouged by businesses like the WMATA, and while it sure is good for their business, it does not create a happy or productive society. Oppressing people for monetary gain doesn’t even bring oppressors happiness.

Let’s start, as a society, getting our act together, or America will continue to fall apart. WMATA can start by lowering the cost of their services.

New York City

I went to New York City over the weekend.  It’s the first time I’ve been there, and I didn’t like it too much.  Some stuff was interesting to see, such as Central Park and Times Square, but really, it was mostly interesting because I had the chance to compare it to the images I’ve seen in the media.  I left with a limited number of pictures because it was so uneventful that I didn’t need to take many.

I’ve been to a few metropolises in my life, including Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkok and a couple of other big cities, but New York City just didn’t compare.  To be honest, I wasn’t expecting too much.  I mainly wanted to see it because I’m a traveler, and that’s what I do.  At least I can say I gave it a shot now, though.

The main problem I have with New York City is the atmosphere.  It’s a really run-down city.  It’s unattractive and looks like it was built decades ago with no upkeep.  There’s graffiti everywhere, and the people are really gruff.  It just feels like the city doesn’t take any pride in itself.  It’s also enormous and difficult to get around efficiently and cheaply.

I also have an issue with the price of things in New York City.  The prices in all of the other large cities I’ve been to can’t even compare to the prices in New York City.  They aren’t even close.  It costs $2.50 to take the run-down subway one way in New York City.  Food and drink prices are outrageous.  I would say it costs about twice as much money to get a meal with the same quality and amount of food that it would cost in Seoul.

What really gets me is the cost for attractions, though.  Because of my limited time, I only had a chance to check out a few things.  One of the things on my itinerary was a trip to the Empire State Building.  I planned on going up to the observatory to get a view of the city.  It costs $27 to take an elevator to the top of that building.  Seriously?  That’s ridiculous.  The cost to go to the top of the N Seoul Tower is around $9.  It’s no more than $15 to scale the Tokyo Tower.  I’m not paying $27 to take an elevator ride to the top of the Empire State Building.  I’m surprised they didn’t charge me for entrance into Central Park.

Honestly, if I ever go back, it would only be to see the Statue of Liberty.  That’s the one thing I didn’t have a chance to see that I think would be really cool to check out in NYC.  Other than that, I’m going to stay away from it.  There are much cooler places that I’ve been to that I would rather visit and plenty of other places that I’ve never been to that I would like to see.

Fast Food in Korea

So… I don’t talk about food in Korea very often, so here is my post on fast food in Korea.

Fast food is fundamentally the same in Korea… except it’s not.  The process is the same: you walk into the store, walk up to the register, pick your poison, pay for it, receive it and then die.  So… the same.

But there are some differences.  First and foremost, they love Coca-Cola in Korea.  This is something I noticed in Japan, and I think it’s prevalent in other Asian countries, as well.  Pepsi just doesn’t exist.  Half of the people in Korea probably don’t even know what Pepsi is, even though it looks exactly like the Korean flag.  So at any given fast food restaurant, more than half of the drink options are Coke, and it’s either assumed you want Coke by simply giving it to you with your meal or you are asked, “Is Coke okay?”  That’s how much they love Coke here.

Another difference is the serving size.  A lot of people say fast food is healthier in Asian countries.  That’s not true at all.  It’s just that you get much less food with your meal.  The burgers are generally the same size here, but the french fries are much smaller, and the drink is about the equivalent of a 12 ounce drink (350 ml) back in the U.S.  They also only give you one or two packets of ketchup with your meal and two napkins.  Who eats one packet of ketchup with a whole serving of french fries and a burger?  Ridiculous.

The size of fast food restaurants is also a difference in Korea.  Depending on the establishment, fast food restaurants here can sometimes be multiple stories high.  Since there is no room to build out, they simply build up.  This can be seen in Japan, as well.  I once saw a six story McDonald’s when I was in Tokyo, and people would sleep there.

Another difference is that they deliver in Korea.  That’s right.  Fast food delivers here, so you don’t even have to leave the house for your heart attack.  They drive around on little motorcycles and try to kill me.  Speaking of, I still haven’t been hit by a car yet in Seoul, so that means I will be getting hit by one in the next couple of days before I leave Korea.  Not looking forward to that.

The final difference I can think of, and arguably, the most important, is the taste.  In my opinion, the taste of McDonald’s is pretty much exactly the same as it is back in the U.S.  Burger King, on the other hand, is vastly different, and in my opinion, doesn’t taste nearly as good.  Taco Bell, too, tastes different, and I don’t like it as much here either.  Other food chains, such as Arby’s and Wendy’s, simply don’t exist here.

There is a third large fast food chain that exists here, though, that originated in Japan.  This chain is called Lotteria, and it is terrible.  I have never tried their chicken sandwiches, so those may be a different case, but every time I get a burger there, it’s just awful.  The beef isn’t very good, and they put some weird kind of mayonnaise on it that ruins it.  It’s gross, and coming from a health nut, I don’t really complain about the taste of my food.  Ironic considering this post’s content, isn’t it?

Korea’s Phone Culture

I’ve mentioned this kind of behavior in the past: Koreans always being on their phones.  It’s everywhere in Seoul.  After awhile, I got used to the behavior.  While I was in Bangkok, I did not notice it.  I did see it while I was in Japan, but I saw it less frequently and used more exclusively while riding on the subway.  I do not know if this kind of behavior is prevalent in other metropolises.

In Seoul, they use them in about any place imaginable.  People walk down the streets fiddling with their phones.  They use it while they are in and on the subways.  They use them in coffee shops.  They use them during meetings.  Maybe the only place I haven’t seen a phone out is in the bathroom, but I bet it happens, especially in the women’s bathroom.  And they use them all the time.

To be fair, I sometimes do it myself.  I don’t have a phone in Korea, but I do use my iPod to play little games on it.  It’s a good way to blow some time while sitting on the subway, so I understand it to an extent.  The problem I have with the phone culture here is when they use them in all of those other places I mentioned.  The worst culprits, in my eyes, are the people who walk down the street and have their eyes glued to their phones.  It’s annoying walking down a busy street and having to walk around people because they are staring at their phones.  Pay attention, please!  Using them in meetings also seems very rude to me, but it happens, and it seems to be acceptable here.

What also bugs me about the phone culture here is what people use them for.  This is another one directed at the ladies.  Stop taking pictures of yourself!  Seriously.  You’re standing in the subway/coffee shop/next to a crowd of people/next to that drunk guy with the club foot taking a picture of yourself.  Why?  What are you doing with that picture?  Believe me.  For a man, I spend a decent amount of my time trying to look good, too, but I draw a thin line between trying to look good and vanity.  Also, that little piece of hair you just tried to move for a minute?  It’s back where it was before you moved it.

For real, Korea, let’s just all take out a book every once in awhile and read it.  I don’t even like reading, but I think I’m the only person I have ever seen on a subway reading a book.  Put your phones away.