MTA: Subway Status
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Don’t believe Facebook Platform is gaining traction? Last fall New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) released a Subway Status application that allows Facebook-savvy rail-riders to share their commute stats with others of similar ilk.

Subway Status creates a sort of sub-Facebook social network based around which trains one rides. For instance, the L, my primary line, connects me with 1550 riders that share the same route. Seeing as that I frequently sit among these people on the L, I’ve never felt any compulsion to network with them through Facebook.

Although I guess it could be an interesting new form of speed dating. Imagine this scenario: boy meets girl through Subway Status, couple plans to share a ride together, meeting goes miserably, girl gets off at her stop, 15 minutes spent doing something she had to do anyway, no real loss. Think about it.

The app creator Plastic Past has also added a mobile option that allows users to update others on the statuses of trains, potentially alerting fellow travelers to unanticipated delays — most frequently caused by caused by trash explosions, man eating rats and psychotic homeless people. Of course, this feature presents an obvious paradox: cell phones don’t function underground, making user alerts no more timely than the more officious announcements shouted from MTA HQ.

At any rate, it’s interesting to see an entity like the stuffy old MTA jumping on the Facebook bandwagon. It occupies a useful void, but it doesn’t yet fill that void to its full potential. That said, I’m optimistic about the future of Subway Status, but a bit disappointed by its present.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Facebook Platform, MTA, Subway Status, commuters, subways, NYC, New York City

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