Coming from the Bay Area where we have to deal with our terrible transit system known as BART, I…read morefound NYC's subway system a surprisingly pleasant change in comparison.
While I'll preface this review by stating that my experience with NYC's subway system is rather limited in scope, not being a New Yorker, I found the subway system leaps and bounds better than what we have here in CA.
Reliability: I hear a lot about how the trains are consistently late. But having spent all of my time in Manhattan, the trains were arriving every 2-5mins during normal work and commute hours. So I never found myself waiting around for overly long for another train to arrive.
AC: Seems like most of the trains that I got on had working AC's, which is quite the blessing in summer. Especially if the train is packed. This is in stark contrast to our local BART system, which has working AC's 50% of the time.
Cleanliness: While the subway stations themselves are certainly very dirty, with no shortage of rats running around the tracks, the inside of all of the train themselves that I rode in were all pretty clean, and I did not feel uncomfortable sitting in any of the seats. This compared with BART seats which are all questionably stained, dirty, and always smell terrible.
Safety: While I understand that NYC subways experience their fair share of homelessness and individuals of questionable mental stability, and even I experienced a few during my short trip to NY, I definitely experienced a lot LESS of these individuals than I do on a daily basis in BART here in the Bay Area. Aside from 1 isolated incident of a crazy person on a train one evening when coming back from Times Square, I never felt particularly unsafe. One should of course still always be aware of their surroundings, stay away from the tracks when waiting, and keep your possessions close to you.
Convenience: NYC's subway system, although not the biggest in the world, certainly is the largest system in the US, and it shows. It's incredibly convenient to be able to travel to all parts of the city, utilizing just 1 system. While in Manhattan, just make sure to heed the signage stating Uptown or Downtown, to make sure you're not traveling in the wrong directly.
Fare: At just $3 per ride, regardless of exit point, the fare is incredibly affordable to utilize for daily commute, or just exploring the city. And for regular riders, a 7-day or 30-day unlimited fare is also offered for even more affordable options! I've never experienced a subway system in the world that only had a flat fare, regardless of distance traveled, but it was certainly welcome, and substantially cheaper than a trip locally here on BART, where a 1-way trip from the East Bay to SFO would run over $10.
I know NYC's subway system is certainly far from perfect, and New Yorkers have their fair share of complaints about it. But in comparisons to what we have here in the Bay Area, it is by far better in almost all aspects.