Thursday, January 12, 2012

Rate A Rat; Get A Free Subway Pass

I have tomorrow off so I'm giving you a little Friday present a day early. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my sister-in-law for sending me this item. I'm telling you, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

New York City has always had somewhat of a rat problem, but apparently it's growing to the level of an infestation in the City's subways. Riders overwhelmingly agree it's getting worse and they want something done about it. Aggressive rats are bolder about coming onto the platforms, and have even been known to bite riders.

Now subway riders are fighting back, demanding rat free subways! While they say the solution is simple -- more trash pickups from each station, patching up rat holes in walls and floors, using tight-fitting lids for trash bins, and more extermination efforts -- they're also trying an unusual tactic to get the attention of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. They have worked with the subway worker's union to develop a website where you can log on and rate pictures of rats that have been submitted to determine the nastiest of the vermin.

I voted for the rat with the grapes. While he's actually pretty cute, I think it's a ploy to lull you into a false sense of security, which really IS nasty when you think about it.

If that's not enough to get you to the site, there are all kinds of other offerings there too, such as the video below of a rat dragging a piece of pizza, 'rat tales' and a place to upload your own rat picture. So where else are you ever going to get to rate a rat? Get to it!. This makes me thankful for our local rat free commute.

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About SRTC

SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.