Plot Twist: G Train Shutdown May Actually Be An Upgrade
Practically first class. (Photo via Cityphile)
People have a lot of opinions on how to make the oft-maligned G train better (Just add more cars! Make it run on an entirely different course because its current track makes no fucking sense! Change its hideous pea green color to something less aesthetically disturbing!) but one that hasn’t been considered as much is this: Get rid of the G train entirely. In a Dickensian plot twist, according to some Greenpointers and LIC residents, the free shuttle bus that has replaced subway service from Nassau Ave to Court Sq for the past four weeks is a superior alternative to the Green Ghost, a nickname for the G train that we have just invented.
“It’s faster,” 22-year-old George Huarotte told DNAinfo, “I prefer the shuttle.” Adds 25-year-old Tiffany Elisca: “The shuttle is always there. And it’s free.” Which makes sense, of course—the shuttle buses run about every two to five minutes, while the G runs every eight to ten (to a zillion) minutes. And though they’re faster, they’re also “extremely expensive,” according to the MTA, which means that spoiled Greenpointers will just have to suck it up come September 2, when the G train returns its normal service.
Praise for the shuttle buses is nothing new, too: Ever since their arrival in July, people have come to realize what an unexpected (and perhaps, unintended?) improvement they are:
http://twitter.com/laura_june/status/494147318154035200
BREAKING: G train shuttle bus better than actual G train (first weekday though so nowhere to go but down). #worldwarG
— trevor ingerson (@tingerson) July 28, 2014
http://twitter.com/johnnysimon/status/495219912122834944
I'm really digging the G Train Shuttle Bus – seriously. It arrives & departs much quicker than the actual G train… @debbieme
— Tony Wolf (@tonywolfness) August 18, 2014
And every time I step out onto Manhattan Ave., there is ALWAYS a G Train Shuttle bus waiting there about to depart. @joshmorrissey @debbieme
— Tony Wolf (@tonywolfness) August 18, 2014
Man, even in traffic the G train shuttle bus runs faster than the G train.
— Tom Brennan (@Brennanator) August 22, 2014
But amidst the chorus of praise for these glamorous vehicular luxury boxes, according to some, the bus drivers aren’t exactly, well, good at driving:
A G-train shuttle bus driver just pulled over and asked me for directions.
— Jayson Green & The Jerk (@thisjaygreen) August 4, 2014
I think this g train shuttle bus driver is lost. That or I got on the wrong bus.
— thepeterha (@thepeterha) July 31, 2014
Win some, lose some?
Follow Rebecca Jennings on Twitter @rebexxxxa.
