Pic: Personalizing the MTA’s Service Cuts

The MTA is the nation’s largest public transportation agency, serving an estimated 8.5 million people daily, making it an integral part of life for a diverse group of riders from every imaginable socio-economic background. This reality creates an interesting dynamic between commuters who share proximity while waiting at the same bus stop or standing at the same spot on the subway platform at the same time every day. They may not know one another exactly, but a connection exists beyond the level of stranger, regardless of whether smiles, waves or head nods are exchanged.

Miranda Purves began to realize these unique relationships with her fellow passengers as she travelled the same lines each day - some she knew by name, others she recognized only by face – but everyone “behaving for the most part civilly, getting from here to there, side by side.” Following the news that the MTA had voted in a plan to recoup their $1.2 billion operating deficit by raising the cost of a single fare from $2 to $2.50 and reducing or eliminating service on over 100 bus and 5 subway lines – many of which she used – Miranda “wanted to find some way to convey the less tangible costs of service cuts and fare hikes.” There is no doubt that these proposed changes will significantly impact many people, but who are they exactly?

The resulting project, created in collaboration with illustrator Jason Logan, is a series of simple, yet telling text-based graphics that provide a brief glimpse into the lives of some of the individuals being effected. The full-scale version can be seen here - large X’s are adults; small x’s are children.

[via NY Times]