Metro-North is noodling the notion of selling seat licenses in order to help make up the MTA’s glaring budget deficit, according to a working draft of a press release provided by a tipster.
The program, not unlike what we see at modern ballparks here in Gotham, is titled Save-A-Seat and involves commuters paying between $350 and $750 a year for what’s essentially their own seat on the train. The seat will bear a RESERVED sign and the license-holder’s last name, until the holder assumes his seat. Conductors are being trained to keep the licensed seats available for the owner, and to politely help someone who may have sat in a reserved seat find another place to sit.
The variance in annual fees reflects the value of the seat. Aisle seats near the doors will command top dollar, while window seats near the rear of the train go for cheaper.
Metro-North will not make my beloved 1 3/4-seaters–the folding, entirely private seats across from the engineer booths–available, as the train personnel often use that space to look out the window when pulling into and out of a station.
Frankly, I think this idea is completely off the wall and will never work. Can a conductor honestly tell a ticket-holding rider to give up a seat because some Chappaqua a**hole (uh, sorry to pick on Chappaqua…I know most of you are not a**holes) owns the freakin’ seat license to it? Prediction: There will be riots over the ridiculous, entirely elitist Save-A-Seat program.
The MTA is shooting for a fourth quarter 2010 start for it, and anticipates the seat-license initiative to pull in in excess of $1.5 million for 2011. If the Q4 test goes smoothly, the railroad hopes to roll it out on Long Island Railroad too.
“Save-A-Seat is thinking out of the box, and that’s precisely how we need to be thinking in the face of our budget shortfall,” said MTA Director of Business Development George Finch in the not-yet-final press release. “Daily commuters have always made a habit of sitting in ‘their seat’ on the train, and Save-a-Seat guarantees them their favorite seat at a reasonable price. It’s a win-win for commuters and for the MTA.”
I say it’s nuts.
Good idea, but I’ve decided to take Hudson Derigible Crossing Co, instead.
A.M. flights from Lakehurst, NJ, docking at The Empire State Building.
The license thingie will no doubt cause a.m. fist fights and brawls like those in FIGHT CLUB. Even if all the RR employees are trained, and all the passengers are told about the seat license for weeks in advance, it will take just one out of town jabloke to sit at a seat marked “reserved,” and when Edith, the lil’ old lady from Bronxville gets on the train (with her SEAT LICENSE) with her chiu-uawa and her push shopping cart a fight will ensue, lawsuits will be filed in Federal and Chappaqua Court, etc, etc, etc, and the program will be cancelled…Oh, and good luck asking for a refund too!
Oh brother….
-K. Bond
ps-Did you know that somewhere in the fine print of purchasing a train ticket, whether its MTA LIRR or MNR it says that a “Paid Ticket does not guarantee that you will have a seat?” Standing room is still better than standing at the platform, right?