Wednesday, December 05, 2007

New Metro Cars

I've seen some photos of these guys taken by individuals who rode in the test cars, and they mostly seem to make sense (apparently there are some odd quirks not mentioned in the Post article). Check out the Post's panoramas of the new seating and new flooring (did we really need a picture of one without carpeting?). Any thoughts on these new cars?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you happen to notice the two cameras in the photo of the new cars?

Anonymous said...

Here's my take:

* The carpetless picture has two parallel bars for passengers to hold. The bench picture only has one. I prefer two bars.

* The carpetless floor is a bit drab. They could do a little something to make it less brown and dirt colored.

* The pull down handles on the bars are a good idea.

* The elimination of the center bar near the doors is a huge improvement that should keep passengers from congregating in that area and blocking access to the center of the car.

* The bench seating is awesome.

* In the bench seat picture you can see the leaning area (for lack of a better term) at the end of the car which allows riders to lean against the wall. These work well in other cities, like London. However, for those with long commutes or who have physical issues it may pose a problem.

* Is the new fabric on the bench seats more long lasting than the current upholstery? As I recall it’s fairly expensive to replace the seat covers and they have to do so frequently.

--Transit Geek