Average Amerikkkan when confronted with public transit

tbf the nyc subway is extremely convoluted and unintuitive to use compared to more civilized metros, lots of arcane rules like "only the first 3 cars can fit in this station so if you want to get off there you better remember where in the train you are" or "trains with prime numbers only stop at every other station during rush hour" which are never posted anywhere. It's like the least beginner-friendly metro of any on earth, even ones where the beginner doesn't speak the local language.
that said it's still not that hard, you buy a ticket, you try to get on the right train, and worst-case you end up 20 blocks away from your destination and try again
- transit apps have trivialized all of this
  you don't even need a Metrocard anymore!
  
  Any system designed for the general population that's so complicated you need an app navigate it is a bad system.
- What in the ever loving fuck?
  
  The East Asian skull shape is unable to comprehend this even though it's peak efficiency, American exceptionalism right here baby.
  
  Is this an LSAT question?
- “only the first 3 cars can fit in this station so if you want to get off there you better remember where in the train you are”
  Not once in the 40 years I lived in NYC has this happened to me.
  
  maybe it was construction-related, if the intercom worked I might've been able to hear what the conductor was trying to say about it instead of a garbled static version of the teacher's voice in charlie brown
  
  This is much more common on the LIRR or NJ Transit than the subway. Certain stations only allow the first 10 cars, last four cars, etc
  
  The old South Ferry station used to be like this, otherwise I can't remember of any others.
- "trains with prime numbers only stop at every other station during rush hour"
  Shirley you can't be serious?
  
  Memories of trying to catch the Z train for funsies and then learning it only has 6 trips every day
  
  It's not nearly as bad as this but yes NYC has this concept of "express" trains that skip stations during rush hours even when it's the same train line, and it can be very confusing even if you've taken any other metro on earth.
- every western transit designer should be required by law to visit one or more major east asia cities to see how they do it. I've been a few places in taiwan, RoK, japan and even as a non-local language speaker the transit was super easy to use. lots of colour coding on paths to guide you around and signage was really good too. this was 10+ years ago now but these cities definitely set the bar to me. I'm curious what modern transit looks like in mainland china, I've never been.
  
  Nordic countries have good transit too, but admittedly nowhere near the same throughput as a metro in China
- Having lived in NYC, I completely agree, but Boston would like to have a word.
  I was craving the clarity and forward thinking that the MTA has compared to the MBTA.
  
  Oh yeah the T is garbage, but the difference is Bostonians don't pretend it's anything other than a straight-up dumpster fire. It's also substantially easier to figure out than whatever tf is happening with the NYC subway. Plus they've at least been experimenting with fare-free service.

So she's a travel columnist and she doesn't do the thing the people do where she travels?
- She apparently does Disney Cruises and Disney Land a lot. .
  
  I hate the gatekeeping and elitist thing of "You don't truly like X if you only do popular thing", but she's really tempting me to do that with travel.
- Sounds about american

She seems very attached to normal human being life.
- Don't @ me about footprint but this is on the way to having the personal CO2-Footprint of the actual cruise ship by going so often all the breakdowns per passenger just end up at 100% again
  
  There are cruise ships that people live on. Like, they don't book them out, you buy a spot on the ship and they just go around the world and stop places. There are multiple year-long cruises, dozens of month-long ones. Most of the ships have been in service since the 70s, sold, resold, refitted. It's truly a cursed industry.

It's understandable to be confused by the strange commercialized transit scheme in New York. Probably not as understandable to be an adult and not know how to read a map but that's the education system's failure, not a moral failure.
- Are there at least websites that help say, someone who hasn't taken public transportation how to navigate it?
  
  Google Maps makes it almost impossible to mess up.
  
  Never been to NYC but here in LA, with a pretty simple light rail/subway network, Metro has an army of "ambassadors" at most stations to help riders get to where they're going.

Medieval peasant brain on full display.
- This honestly feels more like medieval lord brain, which I also think is a big part of car brain
  Share a space with the commoners? By god, what if I catch the poor off of them?
  
  Yeah I agree, have to imagine a medieval peasant would actually be pretty psyched to ride a metro.

What in the fuck publication is uploading this Instagram post + diary entry ass article?
- Business Insider
  https://www.businessinsider.com/first-trip-new-york-city-frequent-traveler-best-worst-parts-2024-12

I remember when I first left Florida I had no idea how to use transit either. I had to look it up and spent hours trying to figure it out. after doing so however, I know for sure it's a genuine goal of mine to see how long I can make it without owning a car even if I end up back in Florida just out of spite

Train

how do you travel 1/3rd of the year and not know how public transit works
- Exclusively going to Disney and going on cruises
  
  I think if we wanted to draw a line between vacation and travel this would be it

The NYC subway has a bit of a learning curve, but it really isn't that bad. People are pretty understanding about non-locals being confused and will answer questions readily, and pretty much the worst case scenario is that you accidentally catch an express train, miss the stop you were shooting for, and have to go across to the other platform to go a few stops back in the other direction. Being unwilling to even try is just baby brained, especially for a "travel journalist."
Oh she's a "travel journalist" who almost exclusively does cruises and Disney resorts. That makes more sense.
- For some reason I assumed Disney had trams or something at the park. I'm not looking it up
  
  I imagine it's a single track with only one set of stops. The NYC subway requires you to plan your route out and make the occasional transfer.

You spend over 25% of the year traveling... And you've never gone somewhere with lots of public transit? Ok not NYC which is one of few transit systems in the US that's worth anything... But what never big cities in... Europe? Asia? Atleast to pass through em for a few days if most of your travel is rural (which I doubt).
Just going to Tokyo and only taking the taxi.
Or what she just goes to LA like 20 times a year?
- Or what she just goes to LA like 20 times a year?
  No she mostly just goes to Disneyland in Florida.
  
  Goes to Disneyland 35 days a year, complains about having to take public transit. Checks out
  
  Madness. I mean I get it on one tiny level... There are things I like doing more often than the average amount... But Disney... Really. You wanna be a child that bad?
  Also ya totally makes you a big time travel head to go to the same theme park for the same managed experience every time.

I’ll bet in the million times she’s gone to Disney she hasn’t ridden the Fkn monorail either.

Isn't there just an app

Ilive in a part of Florida where public transit isn't really a thing, so learning how to ride
IN FLORIDA ONLY UNTOUCHABLES USE PUBLIC TRANSIT AND LEARNING HOW TO RIDE LIKE A POOR IS HARD

Motorcyclists have a point when they call carbrains cagers. It should be a more widely adopted term.
- Also very popular with the bicycle crowd, just to note
  
  I should've known that I'm part of that crowd lol
- Big fan of this term going to keep it in mind
- I use cagers regularly, it's such a perfect encapsulation of that terminal carbrain mentality.

The subway was sooo much nicer than the buses in Wisconsin.

I am from a place where there's no train/subway or anything, but I was broke growing up so I did ride the city bus which is easy to use.
However, the first time I rode the subway in Boston was a terrifying, overwhelming and disorienting experience. Didn't help that it was rush hour and also everyone on the east coast just automatically fucking hates strangers or something so I had some trouble getting help to work the ticketing machine, one MBTA worker literally laughed at me. Once I was on the train there was nothing to hold on to because of was packed like sardines and I thought I was gonna fly into the people next to me.
Anyway my Midwestern ass wanted to avoid it after that. I buried that feeling and figured everything out for my next ride though (I discovered the MBTA app), but I think a lot of people take mass public transit for granted if you were blessed enough to have it all your life.
I at least tried unlike this lady though lmao