MTA Plans To Cut Down Trash Involves Removing Trash Bins

If there's no place to dump your trash, will there be less of it?

The MTA is hypothesizing this very idea in an effort to minimize the amount of trash building up on subway platforms -- by getting rid of trash cans.

The seemingly contradictory plan is already in its second week of testing at the Main Street No. 7 station in Flushing and the 8th Street N and R station at NYU and will last two months.

If successful, officials are considering expanding the plan to all 468 stations, which produces a whopping 40 tons of garbage a day.

MTA vice president John Gaito commented on the pilot program:

It's just an experiment to see how much we can reduce the amount of refuse that we pick up. We expect people to bring garbage, but we’d like them to bring less food. ...Food attracts rodents.

However odd the approach may seem, a similar no-bin rule has been enforced for PATH trains for over a decade. A spokesman for the PATH system says "it seems as though there is less trash" but notes that the PATH system is significantly smaller and deals with far less customers than the MTA.

The number of customers a station sees seems to be the key factor in the plan's success. The New York Times talked to two cleaners working at the 8th Street and Flushing stations, both of who have mixed reviews for the experiment. The cleaner at the 8th Street station says he supports the plan, while a cleaner at the Flushing station, the 10th busiest station in the entire system, does not approve.

Comments

[Keely Thomas-Moore]

10:58 AM on 12/05/2011

I really don't know how well this would work. I don't think people will stop buying things less, so the same amount of trash is still there. Some people will probably hold on to it to get rid of it in a trash can somewhere else. But I doubt most people will do that. So there is the same amount of trash and no trash cans. Most people just want to get rid of it. I see this increasing the amount of litter. People will probably just throw it on the ground. Maybe they should look into getting bigger trash cans instead? ( http://trashcansunlimited.com )

[drvittoriarepetto]

03:53 PM on 10/26/2011

Another stupid idea from the MTA!

[Lachelle Wolfe]

11:41 AM on 10/26/2011

That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard on how to keep the trash flow down! How do these people get hired!

[Matt12]

08:49 AM on 10/26/2011

Another indignity on NY residents: The rodents' lobby has too much power with the MTA

[Symphysodon]

02:35 AM on 10/26/2011

In a related story, MTA will be fighting hunger by eliminating food.

[Lachelle Wolfe]

11:38 AM on 10/26/2011

LOLOLOL thats good!

[Rteefact]

12:30 AM on 10/26/2011

Sure sounds like some idot bean counter idea....Wouldn't it be easier to empty the can then sweep the floors & platforms. Human nature says they will just toss offending litter in places where they can get away with it. So what problem did that solve.

[MIKEinNYC]

08:56 PM on 10/25/2011

What's the difference if people dump their trash into a trash can that's on a subway platform instead of one on a street corner? Either way the trash will need to be disposed of. It's the same amount of trash.

[Johnathon]

02:23 PM on 11/06/2011

Hi Mike,

I agree the idea is stupid, but the difference between picking up garbage underground and on the street is completely different. It takes 2 guys in a trash truck to pick up trash on the street as opposed to 6 or more people who are involved with removing trash underground.

I wrote about it on my blog.

http://business.fieend.com/removing-trash-cans-subway-equate-garbage

[zombywulf]

05:32 PM on 10/25/2011

If we take out the bathrooms then we won't need to buy toilet paper

[MIKEinNYC]

08:58 PM on 10/25/2011

They took out the bathrooms years ago. Actually, they're still there, they're just locked up.

Wouldn't it be nice if we injected a touch of civility into our transit system by having MORE trash cans, more seat to sit on and bathrooms?

[jeffp26]

10:03 PM on 10/25/2011

What bathrooms?

[Symphysodon]

02:35 AM on 10/26/2011

I just assumed that New York City was just one giant bathroom.

[goafer]

03:27 PM on 10/25/2011

For many New Yorkers, there's a trashcan under every seat...

[Max Shaw]

02:17 PM on 10/25/2011

Dumbest thing of the day courtesy of the MTA. Bravo.

[canchita]

01:08 PM on 10/25/2011

Remember the good old days when there were signs in the subways saying 'no eating or drinking allowed'. As I watch people leave coffee cups and sushi containers on the subway floors, I long for the good old days when we could be on a train for half an hour without dining.

[goafer]

03:33 PM on 10/25/2011

I agree, there's no reason why people should be allowed to bring food on the train. It's really gross, and I hate walking into and being blasted in the nostrils with the stench of McDonald's or quietly praying that the person holding the coffee next to me in a crowded car won't accidentally spill it all over me. Eat our meals at home, people. Save money that way, too.

[canchita]

01:07 PM on 10/25/2011

Maybe the trash bins should be directly replaced with more rat poison, since we surely will have more rats. Is this just another budget-cutting plan to get rid of the few cleaners we have left?

[katwright]

01:04 PM on 10/25/2011

How about adding more trashcans?
What a backward idea this is. Sure people will put their empty soda bottles in their pocket....

[jl4141]

12:43 PM on 10/25/2011

This won't work. A better idea would be an ad campaign on the trains aimed at litterbugs. I see people on the trains daily leaving their newspapers for others to pick up, dropping used-up MetroCards (thousands of them end up on subway station floors every day), and just dropping various items of refuse on the station or train floors. How about an ad campaign, "If you bring it with you, take it with you," emphasizing (with pictures) that people should take their empty MetroCards, newspapers, and other garbage with them and deposit them in trash bins? Make litterbugs embarrassed. It might work.

[Mickey Ellis]

12:14 PM on 10/25/2011

Well, of course, people will put their trash in their pockets instead of littering. Of course they will. If this works, perhaps less police will create less crime.