On many mornings, as commuters pack themselves into subway trains and drivers squeeze onto the streets, Janette Sadik-Khan, the commissioner of the Department of Transportation, rides her bicycle to work.
There were still plenty of empty seats in the middle of the train, with experienced commuters packing the seats at the front for a faster getaway at Waterloo.
Sweaty commuters, packed into London's woefully inadequate tube system, are confronted each day by a piped-in message: "Hi folks!
E-mail address GO SIGN UP Share Tweet Sweaty commuters, packed into London's woefully inadequate tube system, are confronted each day by a piped-in message: "Hi folks!
This train runs at a crushing 88% overcapacity and it's a similar story across the country with commuters packed on to trains often running at over 50% overcapacity, according to Transport 2000, whose "Sardine Man" will travel on the country's most congested routes and present his collected evidence to the transport minister, Douglas Alexander.
Now daily commuters packed tightly in the carriages had to kill time by staring at the moving phalanx on the screen.
The trip up to Kenscoff which is 15 km is a passing game for trucks and tap taps (painted cars that are Haitian taxis) which carry many commuters packed in like sardines.
She spoke once of the "charm" of the system, to the disbelief of commuters who pack themselves into its trains each day, and she wants to curb car use.
But when terrorists blew up commuter trains packed with run-of-the-mill people -- students on the way to university, children headed for school, pregnant women traveling to work -- suddenly the equation changed.
The friendly young women behind the counter doubled as bartenders and as the bar equivalent of Tokyo's fabled subway stuffers, who herd rush-hour commuters into packed trains.
