NEW YORK — Using a cell phone on the subway has always been a dream tantalizingly out of reach. City Councilman Philip Reed would like to keep it that way — and bar the practice on buses to boot, New York’s Newsday reports.
Reed has introduced a resolution asking the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has for years entertained the possibility of wiring its tunnels, to instead banish mobile phones from the entire city’s mass transit system.
“We can’t tell them what to do. But they have rules about a lot of things — eating, drinking, playing the radio,” Reed (D-East Harlem) said yesterday. “Most people have said to me they think this is a terrific idea.”
Reed, who in August introduced a bill to ban the use of cell phones at plays, concerts and movies, believes cell phone yappers are one of the city’s foremost quality-of-life nuisances.
For now, the practice extends only to buses and above-ground segments of the subway system, such as the No. 7 line in Queens. In recent years the MTA has met with several wireless companies interested in bringing their cell-phone signals below ground.
Transit advocate Gene Russianoff noted his group, the Straphangers Campaign, conducted an Internet poll that found 54 percent opposed wiring the subways. He called Reed’s measure a reasonable one that asks the MTA, in essence, to simply mull it over.
“Before the MTA moves ahead and wires the subways for cell phone use, they should ask the riding public what they think,” he said.
Not surprisingly, the MTA’s response to Reed’s measure was lukewarm. Spokesman Tom Kelly said the agency does not receive many complaints about cell phone talkers. “We’ll look at the legislation when it passes,” he offered.
It remains to be seen whether the bill, which is awaiting consideration by the council’s transportation committee, has enough support. “It’s really hard to legislate against people who are rude,” said Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), who chairs the committee.
Reed introduced a similar resolution in 1999 that died without ever reaching committee. But now, he believes, the climate is right, adding that he expects his bill banning cell phones at public performances to become law by year’s end.
“People are trying to find some space where there’s some quiet,” Reed said.