This App Tells You How ‘Ratty’ Your Local Subway Station Is
NYC and rats are unfortunately bound. Whether you’re walking near a pile of trash or waiting for the subway, you’ve surely seen one scurry along with its never-ending tail and evil eyes. And now, an app is letting New Yorkers keep track of rats across the NYC subway system.
What’s the rat tracking app?
Called Transit, the mobile app typically relays the latest news on transit. However, its newest feature collects user responses on rat sightings across the subway to share with riders the degree of rat traffic at their station from “so many” to “none.”
Their website explains the feature:
We enlisted thousands of rodent spotters across the five boroughs to rank the rattiest stations…The results are in. And the rats? They’re everywhere.
How does it work?
Once users are detected to have arrived at a subway station, Transit asks if they’ve seen any rats. They’re prompted to answer between “so many,” “one or two,” and “none.” The feature is known as “Rat(e)-My-Ride.”
What are the rattiest stations?
So far, there seems to be rats spotted during 40% of subway trips. The rattiest subway stations (from rattiest to least ratty) in the past 30 days include: Grant Av., Vernon Blvd-Jackson Av, and 149 St – Grand Concourse.
According to data collected, rats are the most active just after 2am. They are more commonly spotted in the outer boroughs and prefer underground subway stations to elevated ones.
How did the idea come to be?
Supposedly, the idea of tracking rats on the app came about in a team meeting. “During that presentation, somebody said, ‘Oh, we should ask about rats on the New York City subway,” Stephen Miller, Transit policy lead told Fast Company. “And we were all like, ‘That’s a hilarious idea.’ That was in the spring. And then later it became like, ‘Well, no, let’s do it.’”
This isn’t the only way to track rats in NYC. The city even has an interactive map to let you view if your neighborhood passed the most recent rat inspection.
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