No Need To Panic

MTA officials complain that the “panic bar,” already misused by stroller pushers, have become a pain in the ass:

“People are using them indiscriminately, to get out quicker,” Andrew Albert, a rider representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, said yesterday. “I’m just really concerned if there is a real emergency, as it was with the car alarms that go off, you are going to hear this bell going off and you’re not going to pay any attention to it.”

Shrill alarms at subway station exits have become common since June, when the MTA started installing the panic bars on all service gates next to regular and floor-to-ceiling turnstiles. People have used the gates, which are meant only for emergencies, as a regular exit.

In addition to the stroller dilemma, apparently a new problem has emerged:

“They haven’t run any kind of public education campaign. It’s not fair to criticize riders,” said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign. “They don’t know anything about the gates.”

But transit officials disagreed, saying riders are warned that they can be ticketed for opening the gates.

“Summonses have apparently been issued to individuals holding the gates open and selling rides,” said New York City Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges.

Exact details about the number of summonses given were unavailable yesterday.