By Sam Ryan
samantha.ryan@spartans.ut.edu
Living in New York is a complete reality check. You do not just get in your car to run some errands or call a nine dollar uber for a ride to the club. Getting from place to place is a lot more of a process and can hurt your wallet.
Most New Yorkers rely on the subway. Owning a car can be nearly impossible with the city traffic, parking availability, and living situations. Some people have no option but to rely on foot, the subway, Uber, or yellow cab service.
You’d have to pay for gas anyway, so the spending of these travel plans will equal out, right? Wrong.
It’s no secret that New York is overall more expensive than most states to live in, but with rising Uber prices, and troubling subway rides, there is no choice but to dig a little deeper in your wallet.
The cheapest, and most likely quickest, way to travel throughout the city is taking the subway. Although this may be the most convenient, lately it has been extremely dangerous and left travelers not wanting to continue riding.
On Tuesday, April 12, a man in a gas mask opened fire on an N train before it entered the station in south Brooklyn, shooting 10 people.
Mayor Adams referred to this as, “a horrific, unprovoked attack.”
With the cold weather of New York, the subway has also become an attraction to the homeless. Though they may need the subway for shelter and mean no harm, the police are cracking down on the loitering that goes on within the cars.
There have been multiple incidents in the past weeks which have left New York residents uncomfortable to continue taking the subway.
According to NBC, in the past few weeks, a woman was pushed in front of a train and killed in Times Square, a man was shoved onto the tracks in Lower Manhattan and left with minor injuries, and the mayor stated he fears his safety using the subway for transportation.
On an average weekday, the subway would carry up to 5 million riders. Now, the weekday average is about 3 million.
The subway is meant for one thing. To get where you need to go. You mind your business, you get off at your stop, and go about your day. Unfortunately, and understandably, many have changed the way they travel the city and have been turning to Uber as an alternative. Though Uber is an easy to use app, the price surges have gone up to $160 a ride.
This leaves some people with absolutely no option. Not everyone can afford an $160 Uber, and this makes the subway their only option.
This can leave many extremely frustrated at Uber for leaving them no option but to fear for their life taking the subway. After facing backlash for upcharging those fleeing Tuesday’s shooting, Uber stated they would suspend ‘surge prices’ and refund riders from the incident, but where are you supposed to go if you cannot afford the extreme ride prices? Uber is taking advantage of this problem and knows that some people can and will pay extreme amounts if it means they do not have to deal with the dangers of the subway.
This is a problem that needs to be solved. Not only for humanity alone, but for the safety of everyone involved. New Yorkers have places to be, the subway was created to make it easy and quick for them to reach where they need to go. These issues have not only caused tragedies but inconvenienced those who are experiencing the difficulty of traveling in the city.
