Riding the subway

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How to ride the subway like an expert.

MetroCards

When buying a MetroCard, pay with credit card or bank card instead. If you pay with bills, you'll end up with weird money like Sacajawea dollars.

In the station

If what the announcer says isn't comprehensible, it isn't important. All essential announcements will be made in a sufficiently loud, reasonably inflected voice. If you're really nervous about services changes, you can check the MTA website before traveling.

Trains

How to get to Columbia

Wherever you start, get yourself to a station on the 1/2/3 (red) line. This most likely means you'll be going to a station below 96th St. You can now board an express 2 or 3 train that's heading uptown. Get off this train at 96th St and walk across the platform to the local 1 train. Get off the local train at 116th St. (Or you can ride the local 1 train the entire journey to 116th St.) If you're starting from a station above 96th St, you either need to ride the local 1 train to 116th St; or take the 2 or 3 train to 96th St then change as described before.

Advice for going uptown

Because local trains (line 1) often run express between 72nd and 96th on weekends, passengers trying to go uptown from 96th are sometimes daunted when they see the local train approaching on the express track. The bottom line: if it says it's a 1 train, nine times out of 10, it's a 1 train. Board it freely. You can always try listening to the announcer. If he or she says, "Next stop, 103rd Street," you're golden. The 2 and 3 (express) trains don't stop at 103rd. And don't try to take the 2 or 3 to get to Columbia: it doesn't work.

Advice for going downtown

When going downtown, it's often difficult to decide whether it's worth switching to the express. When you hit 96th Street, it never hurts to run across the platform to check for oncoming express trains. In general, on weekdays, if you're going to 42nd Street or south of it, it's usually worth transferring to the express train. On weekends, it's more iffy; you'll almost definitely catch an express train if you're going to 14th Street or further south. Otherwise, it may be safer to stay on the local. (The express trains stop at 96th, 72nd, 42nd, 34th, 14th, and Chambers Streets before branching off from the 1 line in the financial district.)

Crosstown

It's basically impossible to get to the Upper East Side via subway, and since the crosstown buses are only slightly faster than a brisk walk, and slower during rush hour, we recommend doing the crosstown walk on foot if it's daytime and the weather's nice. (Exception: if you're going to the Met, take the M86 bus; that one seems faster than the others.) If you're going to, say, 3rd and 60th, you might be tempted to sub it down to Times Square and switch to the N/R/Q/W line, which goes back up to Central Park South and then turns east. But if you're in good enough shape, it's faster, and more direct, to take the 1/9 to Columbus Circle and walk.

Seating

Few people are small enough to fit into the seats on the 1/9 trains. You might try sticking your leg into the foot territory of the next seat over, but, depending on how crowded the train is, you may incur the wrath of your fellow passengers.