I lived in Taipei for about 3 years. Technically it's against the rules in both the NYC metro and Taipei metro to eat on the train. Technically it's a weakly enforced rule in both places. A lot more people eat on the train in NYC than Taipei.

I once ate hamburger on an intercity train (Namba to Wakayama) in Japan because I hadn't eaten all day.

The train was parked with its doors open awaiting for departure time.

Just as I was taking another bite of sandwich, someone walks into the cart, sees me eating, and turns around and walks right out to walk over to the next car.

How do I know it was me?

There were only 2-3 people in the entire cart.

Guess I should've known better.

If you were eating a basic (nothing exotic) rice ball (onigiri), they would not look twice. Can you guess why? Smell. (You also did not mention if fries were included.) My advice: Eat the hamburger on the platform and take the next train. Or, try something with almost no smell.

It's common to see parents feeding onigiri to their kids on the train, even if it is "technically" (the best kind!) against the rules.

And if they were eating durian, everyone else would gang up on them and throw them off the train.

Even a durian crazy country like Singapore explicitly bans them on public transport, definitely won't blame the Japanese :)

I never thought of it before, but I don't think there is any food you can buy at Japanese station-platform kiosks that really smells. Very different case in Korea. On long-distance trains, there is always that guy with a bag of dried octopus...

Sometimes I’d shop around for a car or two for a perfect, heaven mandated seat for me, when the train isn’t leaving soon anyway.

It should be no big deal, unless people are really keeping distance from you and standing in the next blocks of seats. That happens, like, a man with garbage bags is grumbling nonsense. Bags of fries and 551 takeouts at 5PM usually won’t trigger that… just appetites :p

I don't know why they don't at least put a trash can on the train. If people are going to litter anyhow why not at least provide the off chance that hey they might toss their leftover food into the bin, instead of letting it roll all over the train for the next 16 hours. It's like the great ashtray removal in the last few decades. People aren't going to quit smoking because you took away the ashtrays, they will just toss their cigarettes on the ground where there used to be an ashtray.

Fire risk. Someone will toss a cigarette but in there and the next thing you know the train is on fire.

And this being NYC, you know it’s bound to happen sooner or later.

I would also say the behavior extends to more than just eating.

    Technically it's against the rules in ... the NYC metro

This is incorrect. Google something like "can i eat on the nyc subway?" and you will find many articles telling you what is and is not allowed on the NYC subway. Eating and drinking is allowed. A NYTimes article from 2017[1] says the main reason to allow eating & drinking on the subway is for children who ride the metro to school. Many eat their breakfast on the train. There is a real public health concern that, if eating on the NYC subway was banned, many children would not eat breakfast before school.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/18/nyregion/mta-reconsiderin...

I stand corrected. This is probably a more authoritative source, though:

https://new.mta.info/document/36821

But do note this:

> (f) No person shall bring or carry onto a conveyance any liquid in an open container.

Nice follow-up. During my short research, I was surprised to see they make a specific carve-out for drinks from an open container! I guess it makes sense, as the train might stop on short notice. Also, if you really think about it, it is weird to travel on a train drinking something from an open container(!). It would normally have a lid/cover.

I’ve generally understood open containers to include drink containers with lids, at least for legal restrictions.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-container_law

> The possession of cans, bottles or flasks or other vessels containing an alcoholic beverage could potentially result in a violation of open container laws.

> To be “open”, in most cases, means that some of the contents have been removed, the seal is broken, the cap is off or the alcohol is otherwise readily accessible.

Even the wording above makes it sound as if interpretations can vary, though.

> There is a real public health concern that, if eating on the NYC subway was banned, many children would not eat breakfast before school.

Why is that a public health concern? Not eating breakfast is completely normal. Many children already don't eat breakfast.

Exactly.

Maybe the problem with many things in the US is that institutions that should not be dealing with certain issues are forced to deal with them by various interests.

The MTA should not be in the business of ensuring schoolchildren are fed. Nor should they be in the business of being adhoc homeless shelters.

Ezra Klein just wrote an article on this exact topic: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/opinion/democrats-liberal...

Thank you for sharing this. That was an informative read. I’ve seen Ezra’s name around before, but I’m not familiar with what he’s known for.

not eating breakfast isn't healthy, thus making it a health concern

the health of the children of a community is a public concern of that community

> not eating breakfast isn't healthy

In what sense? It has no adverse effects. Are you worried about spiritual pollution?

in the sense that not eating breakfast does indeed have adverse effects on children

You technically have to pay to use the NYC subway too. You're also technically not allowed to smoke crack on it.