The most recognizable voice in the Big Apple, the one that tells you to “stand clear of the closing doors” in the subway, is that of Charlie Pellett. A New Yorker video.
Subway car door closing annoucements from around the world, including New York City, New Jersey, Boston, Denver, San Francisco, San Diego, Portland and Seattle, Vancouver BC, London, and Tokyo. Video by Olton Hall.
“Subway,” written by Sam Pottle, with lyrics by Grace Hawthorne, from Sesame Street, 1974. The visuals are pretty fuzzy, but so are the singing Muppets …. Youngsters: a “token” was a coin-like item used to access mass transit for a single ride.
JR East, the East Japan Railway Company, wants Tokyo commuters to stand on both sides of station escalators instead of reserving one side for impatient people who want to walk. A study found that most escalator accidents happen when walkers stumble over luggage or run and slip, so the all-standing policy is safer and more efficient.
Good luck with that. The policy was tried in Hong Kong, London’s underground and DC’s Metro, but it didn’t go over well. Standing to one side on escalators and walking on the other is too firmly embedded in urban behavior. In Washington, there’s even a song about it:
“Welcome to the new M.T.A.: Metropolitan Transit Athletics! Grab a towel, swipe your MetroCard, and get ready to sweat. Daily membership costs only $2.75.”