New York City Subway Service Will Now Be Updated with Emojis
A new “Subway Agony Index” hosted by WNYC is using emojis to convey whether New Yorkers’ commutes will mildly suck or really suck. Designed by the Data News Team at New York’s public radio station, the interactive index uses the MTA’s Real-Time Data Feeds to gauge how well subway lines are running, then visualizes each line’s service with a smiley face (normal), meh face (meh), or frowny face (delays/not running). Emojis represent the status of the lines in their entirety, as well as what’s going on at each stop. “Unhappy points” are added during rush hours around stops where more people enter stations than exit, according to MTA turnstile data. At this point, WNYC’s service only emoji-fies the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 lines, because necessary data isn’t yet available for other lines. They’re also not yet using poop emojis in their visualization, but maybe they should, per common subway horror stories.
Check out how smiley or frowny your subway line is today here.
[via WNYC]
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