Welcome to 'bags of nyc subway'!

Instructions:

• Your bag photo and ride will be visible to other visitors. Your screen name isn't shown (it just lets this browser remember you).
• You don't have to use your exact stations. You can use a part of your commute if you want to.
• Please don't include faces, names or anything personal in your photo or screen name.
• Any visitor can report a photo. Photos reported by several people are hidden.

I will be using this information for a research I am doing about subway as a social infrastructure. read more here

why I made bags of nyc subway

Having a regular commute made me think about the subway as a social infrastructure. I started wondering how many people I share the same subway route with everyday. I wanted to find out how often we cross paths with the same people during these commutes. I started digging for data on this online but couldn’t find any. So I built bags of nyc subway to collect anonymous data about regular commutes as the first phase.

why bags?

When I first experienced the rain in NYC, I realised how useless my umbrella was. My first concern was my most valuable possession - my laptop. Motivated by my drive to get the best protection for my laptop, I started paying attention to people’s bags (while silently evaluating how well it would do in nyc rains).

There were occasions when I saw a personalized trinket or a decoration on a bag that I spotted again weeks later. I recognized the bag but not the person.

While I made this project to help me with my research, I wanted everyone helping me to get something small back from it. I hope this make your commute more fun. I hope you spot a bag you see here in one of your commutes. If you do, I’d love to hear about it!

bagsofnycsubway@gmail.com