Chow.com takes on the etiquette of eating on the subway in New York, where passengers are allowed to consume food and beverages on transit. So here’s the other side of the coin!

Trash bins on the platforms are a must BTW. Korea lets me eat on the train, but I never have anywhere to go with my waste. I always put it in my backpack and then forget to dispose of it later. /

I love the Funtheory.com videos. I have to say, I think the bottle bin game would increase recycling in my own household, and definitely in public spaces like transit stations. I noticed that a lot of submissions deal with public transit. Sometimes I like to think of these “fun” incentives to change behavior…applause and encouraging words piped into bus shelters?? That would be tough to pull here, but its a cool idea.

As for advertising, Lamar and J.C. Decaux currently handle the advertising contracts on trains, buses and bus shelters, and I will pass along your idea to our contacts.

We are currently looking into text-based communications systems, from alert delivery to bus schedules, etc. If you have any knowledge or experience with systems in other cities and want to share, let us know and to help compare applications. Since many of our passengers have phones, we figure text will be a great way for us to communicate with each other; and like Jimmy said, it can be done discretely.

The one thing I took away from Daron’s post was the idea of stainless steel seats. It doesn’t immediately sound enticing but I imagine if well designed that could be comfortable and easy to clean.

Courtney, you ask how we can change cultural norms. Personally I think outside-the-box thinking and creative enticements can be effective. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

As for rules enforcement, and I understand you are already looking into this, I like the idea of harnessing the power of the crowd through things like text message reporting to security etc. Obviously you do not right now have time to place a guard in every bus or traincar and most people won’t take time at the end of a trip to report something. But I for one would report someone smoking or misbehaving, particularly if I could do it discretely from my phone.

One other thought unrelated to this post: I’ve notice you have a lot of add space at stations that is either empty or merely advertises that it is available ad space. Have you considered giving this space for free to small businesses or non-profits on a temporary basis to prove to them the effectiveness of such ads? You might be able to win some customers by giving them a no risk trial.

I’ll see if I can pull those numbers for you. But we are launching a new “Respect Your Ride” campaign next week that talks about not playing loud music, using foul language, and yes, public urination. Encouraging riders to take responsibility for their behavior for the good of everyone riding. Hopefully it will encourage less of your pet peeve.

Like Daron (and it would seem, Courtney) – I don’t care for this rule. I do understand why it is in place, however. If adults would act like, well, adults, we wouldn’t need this. But because of the actions of a few, the many will suffer without food or drink on buses and trains – if we didn’t, Metro would spend copious amounts of cash constantly conditioning (and reconditioning) carriages, be they bus or train. I agree with Jennifer’s point above, but think that as long as we have a “no food or drink” rule, vending machines should be removed from platforms.

OT: While most of our conversation deviated from the topic at hand, thank you Courtney and Jennifer for responding.

OT2: Jennifer’s right — that is a cute picture, Courtney.

RT going quiet. Have a good weekend, y’all!