>>950451Cut and cover doesn't have to be bleak and depressing. Subterranean stations can look acceptable provided the facade is updated to match the times.
Take for example the 7 line extension or the new (T) system coming to Second Avenue. The problem is a design (shitty looking shower style tiles which become grimy after years of neglect and decay), as opposed to the vaulted concrete of the DC metro or the late 70's bunker deco style used by the Washington metro.
>>955765The most important aspect is station accessibility. No other system in the U.S. (except for some the very limited red/purple line of the CTA offer local/express service on a dedicated right of way, or the level of branching within the boroughs outside manhattan where many of the commuters originate.
Line complexity on Manhattan and thus access is supercharged because most of the branch lines create four track local/express tunnels on the main avenues.
There are cities like of San Francisco and Seattle; Washington DC - (and virtually every east coast megacity for that matter) that could benefit from a similar model.
Even a place like Phoenix, Denver, or Las Vegas could benefit form an adaptation along its major urban avenues.
In New York, the design allows transit folk as well as tourist to reach virtually every part of the city and transfer to other reliable forms of public transit, or navigate on foot.
>>955756The gum spots on the station platforms and metrocard litter are probably also responsible. MTA should have its feeders eat used metrocards and have special bins at the end of the mezzanine level for dumping empty cards.
