The MTA is considering implementing articulated train cars in the next twenty years, which are basically trains with one long passage, i.e. not separate cars but rather a quasi-single one. Articulated trains have larger carrying capacity; consider for a moment the amount of space in between each train car and how many people that could've carried. Not only that, there is ease of passage up and down, which allows people to exit and enter more efficiently or move to accommodate other passengers boarding.

But there are cons, which made me realize how dependent we are on separate cars. Take for example performers or beggars; what is their M.O.? Go to one car, give their spiel, then move onto the next. If you're annoyed at a mariachi band waking you up, you can find solace in they'll be gone soon to bother someone else. That can't happen in an articulated train. They will perform, move twenty feet, and perform again.

Or if there's a drunk in one car who vomited or stripped or some who's particularly unruly due to the influence or mental problems. There's nowhere to escape. A train car is about a block long, but that stench/problems can follow you all the way to the end.

I'm still on the fence about the issue and have to ride one of these myself to see what they're like. I feel most of my protests is just simply me being accustomed to a certain way and I would easily habituate myself to another if I had to. Either way, I hope there are interesting things to see in the next twenty years. Who knows, maybe the display for the upcoming trains will finally work at my stop on the 1 train.