Nightmare Subway Situation: PATH Train Track Fire Caused Subway Car To Fill Up With Smoke

I've taken the PATH train more days than not ever since I moved to Jersey City 2 and a half years ago. I've taken the PATH over 1,000 times easy. Every day for work I take it to World Trade, then take an MTA up to the office (or whatever area of the city I need to go). I'm pretty sure I was actually on a different track of the PATH as this was all going down yesterday. 

I'll be the first person to defend any sort of NJ or NYC public transit. When Francis wrote this blog about a subway fight the other week, I thought the way he described the subway was kinda bullshit. 

But even the death-defying, traffic-dodging terror ride on a Citibike seems LEGITIMATELY less dangerous than riding the subway for six stops these days. I actually mean that: it feels more likely that I will die on the subway, sitting peacefully and doing my crossword, than by getting posterized by an Amazon truck in the Lower East Side.

I have no fucking clue what Francis (6'3", D1 athlete) is talking about. The subway he takes home must be in an entirely different realm than mine. Worst thing I ever have to deal with is the rare 5-10 minute delay, or homeless people. And 90% of the time the homeless people completely mind their own business. Sometimes they'll be stretched out asleep across a few seats. Sometimes they're muttering  to themselves, or incorrectly reciting scripture. Sometimes they're smelly and I move a few feet to the left until they're out of nose-shot. Sometimes they ask you for money and you pretend to not hear them until they walk away, or maybe even give them a dollar if you're feeling crazy. If I ever actually felt unsafe I would simply change cars or get off at the next stop. And I'm not some hardo New Yorker. I spent a majority of my life in small-town Ohio, and not once have I actually felt uncomfortable on the subway.

Now that I say that I'll probably have a crackhead repel from the ceiling and gouge my eyes out on my ride home tonight. Or the harmless looking lady next to me will suddenly be possessed by a demon and slash my throat while we're underneath the Hudson River. But when people say they fear for their lives on the subway everyday, or act like they're braving this lawless hellscape of a place every time they need to go 10 blocks, I truly don't know where they get that from other than videos on the internet. 3.2 million people ride the subway in New York every day. Take any random sample of 3.2 million people and there's going to be some incidents.

But this is the first time I've seen a subway video that made me not want to take it. I draw the line at track fires causing my subway car to fill up with smoke. I mean... not literally. I'll still take the PATH train home from work tonight. Same as always. I'll risk my life before paying $70 to take an Uber that doubles my commute time. But that video is a true public transportation nightmare. My first thought was why the hell did those people stay on the train. My reaction would have been to jump out and sprint down the tracks away from the fire until I find an emergency exit or reach the next stop. Unless the smoke was so bad in the tunnel that wasn't an option? Was the enclosed train the only thing keeping the air somewhere breathable? Were they truly at the mercy of however quick NYFD could get there to put out the fire? I don't even know if that logic makes sense, but either way, that's a terrifying situation.

I can't believe how calm everybody on that that train was. There was some panic, but I was expecting way more screams of terror. Way more chaos. Maybe the videos make the smoke seem worse than it did in person. But if I were on that train, I would have thought I was going to die. I'd be thinking it was a terrorist attack. I'd have thought the drones flying over New Jersey finally made their move. I would certainly not be calm in trusting that the PATH train employees (who may or may not have done a great job depending on who you ask) would take care of the situation. 

Regardless, whoever's "fault" this was is surely not the person who's shoulders the problem fell on. Not in real time. And considering they eventually got everyone home, I suppose they could have done a worse job. That counts for something at least.

Their social media account sure didn't do shit. They tweet out an update every time a station elevator is down for 10 minutes. But when their tracks are busting into flames, you'd have no way of knowing aside from these extremely vague "we have a track condition" updates.

Fuck all of that. No thank you. Now it's about time for me to pack up my things and head to the PATH. I'm sure it'll be fine for me…