Seat hogs

[Texan Eagle]

Don't even start me on BART, where people are standing and some won't even think to remove a bag.

Not saying that it still doesn't happen a some here in NYC, but by and large NY fixed that problem with a new law that saw hefty fines for just putting your bag on the seat period. Didn't matter if you were the only person in the car, if a cop saw your bag on the seat, you'd get a ticket for it.

The city made some extra money and a lot of people learned the hard way that they aren't entitled to 2 seats.

I wish Caltrain starts doing this. Here, a great specimen from my commute today evening, on a very full Baby Bullet service with Standing Room Only (SRO as they say) conditions

When I boarded and saw this, I gave the guy a dirty look and glanced at his bag, hinting to remove it from there, but he continued being "busy" on his iPhone, not doing anything about the bag.

Worse still, this was the first seat by the door and the conductor was right there, never mentioned a word to this jerk to move his bigass bag from the seat.

 

[crescent2]

Even wimpy me might have had to ask the conductor for help "finding a seat."

Things like this do not help give Amtrak a good name with the general public/taxpayers.

 

[guest]

Don't even start me on BART, where people are standing and some won't even think to remove a bag.

Not saying that it still doesn't happen a some here in NYC, but by and large NY fixed that problem with a new law that saw hefty fines for just putting your bag on the seat period. Didn't matter if you were the only person in the car, if a cop saw your bag on the seat, you'd get a ticket for it.

The city made some extra money and a lot of people learned the hard way that they aren't entitled to 2 seats.

I wish Caltrain starts doing this. Here, a great specimen from my commute today evening, on a very full Baby Bullet service with Standing Room Only (SRO as they say) conditions

When I boarded and saw this, I gave the guy a dirty look and glanced at his bag, hinting to remove it from there, but he continued being "busy" on his iPhone, not doing anything about the bag.

Worse still, this was the first seat by the door and the conductor was right there, never mentioned a word to this jerk to move his bigass bag from the seat.

For Pete's sake, just ask or motion for him to remove the bag!! The person will do it, for fear of consequences of you actually asking the conductor, who if asked would tell the guy to move it. You have to speak up!!!

 

[crescent2]

Maybe it's just me, but before I retired, no one had to ask or remind me to do my job. I think this is true for most workers. On Amtrak, what happened to people doing their jobs just because it's their job? Apparently, from the posts here, seat hogs are a common problem on some of these trains. Seems the train crew would take the initiative especially when there is standing room only. Why would they not? Yeah, passengers can DIY or ask the crew, but why should they have to do that?

When an individual asks a stranger to do something the stranger obviously isn't too keen on doing to begin with, you won't always get a pleasant response. If rules are routinely enforced, there are fewer problems for everyone and everyone knows what to expect.

I'm a fan of Amtrak and despise flying, but I can't imagine bags in airline seats with other passengers standing, and the flight attendants standing around in la-la land. If Amtrak wants more public support, having its employees act in a more professional manner would be helpful. *sigh*

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

Sir:
I often have done exactly as you so wisely recommend, but apparently it bothers you that I did not add that.

In addition, I have never had anyone beg me for anything on the train but it sounds likeyou are begging me now to be someone you can put down. Give it up, dude.

I can't comment upon what you choose to not add in your post. I can only comment on what you did say. I am not clairvoyant.

And I still feel that if someone is on a crowded train, they see people unsuccessfully attempting to find a seat, and will still not move their bags off a seat unless someone dares to directly confront them, that person isn't being a very nice person.

 

[dlagrua]

You know what I can't stand? Its on the crowded NEC when I go to the cafe car and see all of the seats taken up by the same people for the entire trip to WAS. At least on the Acela you have plenty of room at your seat (and the cafe car seating is poor) but on the NEC those dirty slobs in the cafe car sit there like they own it. Wouldn't it be nice if Amtrak posts a sign there saying "20 minutes only please".

 

[SubwayNut]

Sometimes seats in the cafe car are the only seats avalible particularly if you want to sit with someone. I've done this and the conductors will put a seat check on the table for you.

 

[rusty spike]

I'm a fan of Amtrak and despise flying, but I can't imagine bags in airline seats with other passengers standing, and the flight attendants standing around in la-la land. If Amtrak wants more public support, having its employees act in a more professional manner would be helpful. *sigh*

A double *sigh*. Of course, airlines operate under FAA rules,so baggage cannot be permitted to linger in emply seats while passengers stand, and the airline on-board staff works for a company that must show a profit or go out of business.

 

[Bus Nut]

When an individual asks a stranger to do something the stranger obviously isn't too keen on doing to begin with, you won't always get a pleasant response. If rules are routinely enforced, there are fewer problems for everyone and everyone knows what to expect.
I'm a fan of Amtrak and despise flying, but I can't imagine bags in airline seats with other passengers standing, and the flight attendants standing around in la-la land. If Amtrak wants more public support, having its employees act in a more professional manner would be helpful. *sigh*

You would think that this would be the case, and sometimes it is true, but many a time I have been on a flight where a passenger attempted to do something knowing full well it was against the rules and the flight attendant had to confront them. Most of the strictly enforced rules on flights have to do with safety and are federal regulations, but it is incredible how many people think these rules don't apply to them or are stupid and unnecessary and give the attendant an attitude for confronting them.

Given that seat usage is not a safety issue, it may be that overstressed conductors are picking their battles, as safety is their prime responsibility. Some railroads use non-conductor, lower-skilled and lower-paid attendants to deal with these issues and let conductors do the safety-sensititive stuff, whereas other railroads let conductors "do it all" (often leading to uncollected fares, just for one example), meaning that the job doesn't get done perfectly when the train is full because the conductors are the most over-taxed. After all, we are talking about a problem when the train gets busy and the car fills up. Why would the conductor pick a fight when boardings are light?

People block seats because they get away with it over and over. Eventually the train will get packed and enforcement will start in earnest. I don't know what the solution is, but I do know that hiring more people is probably a non-starter in this political climate, even if it is typical in other parts of the world to hire low-end, uniformed customer service staff on transportation services. In some countries, armies of uniformed national railway employees are a point of pride but in the English speaking countries it's viewed very differently.