Turnstiling: How Do you Go Through the Turnstyle?

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This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

HEET, originally uploaded by Triborough
Living in New York, unless you are fortunate to live within walking distance to your job, you have to take the subway; which results in having to go through the turnstiles a minimum of four times each day. This means either going through a regular turnstile or a HEET (iron maiden, tourist trap, etc.) daily. With such an ubiquitous experience all New Yorkers endure, one’s technique is forced to be honed to an art form; from the way you swipe your card, to how you go through the turnstile it is hard not to develop a personal style of turnstiling.
Case in point: recently I was following a woman out of the subway car headed toward a HEET exit. Instead of getting into the HEET and pushing on the forward arms, she entered in and pulled the HEET arms which were behind her. Very strange, but that is her way of turnstiling
My style on regular turnstiles is to get my card out of my wallet a few strides before the turnstiles, get my arm out in front of me, swipe, then pivot right so that the bar will hit my left hip. This ensures if I get the dreaded error message the Boys won’t be in danger. In the HEET I just push with my right shoulder.
How do you turnstile?

6 thoughts on “Turnstiling: How Do you Go Through the Turnstyle?”

  1. I typically push the turnstyle faster than the person in front of me, to freak them out and get them out of my way. Then I hold the bar a little bit as I leave so that the person behind ME doesn’t do the same thing.

  5. That is a nice project, good post JW. I really enjoy his elevator project as well. Is it just me or are elevators one of the most socially and publicly awkward spaces one can encounter? What is an appropriate manner to act? Eyes forward? If in convo with someone do you continue it? Say hello to others? If alone do you fix your hair/clothing in a mirror or dance for the guy behind the security camera? I do all of the above because I’m never really sure…..

  6. I try to avoid HEETs as much as possible.
    When going through regular turnsitles I go thigh first. Always seems to work.
    One big complaint is that the GO beep and the swipe again beep are identical sounding.
    I love the PATH turnstiles, since they have the big LCD screen that says GO.

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