Public transport: the universal don'ts
TL;DR
- Four don'ts cover most of it: don't board before people exit, don't put feet on seats, don't hold a closing door, don't let anyone else hear your audio.
- Sydney prices them. Feet on seats is a $100 penalty notice, littering $200, smoking or vaping $300, alcohol $400, blocking doors $400 with a $5,500 maximum.
- New York's rules answer the audio question in one line: devices listened to solely by headphones and inaudible to others are permitted.
- Food rules do not travel. Sydney allows food on metro and trains but water only on buses, and some systems ban eating outright.
Contents
The rule
Let people off before you get on. Feet off the seat, bag off your back, audio inside your head, and never hold a closing door.
Why this rule exists
These are not local manners you can learn city by city. Three systems on three continents write the same short list, and two of them attach money to it.
Sydney prices it plainly. Putting feet on seats draws a $100 penalty notice and up to $1,100 in court. Littering is $200. Smoking or vaping is $300. Drinking alcohol is $400. Blocking doors or interfering with equipment is $400, with a $5,500 maximum.
New York names the same behaviours more bluntly and charges less. Seat obstruction covers lying down, putting a foot on a seat, and occupying more than one seat, at $50. Littering is $100, and so is interference with movement, which is the official name for holding a door. Its rulebook also settles the audio argument in one line: devices listened to solely by headphones and inaudible to others are permitted.
London skips the price list. Transport for London bars smoking, vaping and alcohol across the network. Its Behaviour Code, enforced on young riders' travel cards, asks them to keep feet off the seats, give up a seat, and pick up their litter. One line asks them to ensure they are the only person who can hear their music.
Three legal systems, one list. That is the tell that it is not culture.
What happens if you don't follow it
Immediate. Twenty seconds of held door at each of eight stops adds nearly three minutes to every passenger's trip, and the delay follows the train all evening.
Legal. Inspectors on these networks issue on-the-spot notices. The fine for feet on a seat in Sydney is larger than a day's travel.
Social. Boarding before people have got off is the one that reads worst. It marks you before you have said anything.
Practical. Food rules do not travel with you. Sydney allows food on metro, trains and light rail but water only on buses. Some systems ban eating outright.
Quick reference
- Stand to the side of the doors. Wait for the carriage to empty, then board.
- Feet on the floor. Bags on the floor or on your lap, never on a seat.
- Backpack off in a crowd. Carry it low by the handle.
- One person, one seat. Move to the middle or the back so others can board.
- Headphones on, volume down. Inaudible to the person beside you is the test.
- Never hold a door for a straggler. The next train is usually minutes away.
- Priority seats go on request, and you do not get to judge whether the request is warranted.
- Check the food rule before you board, and carry your rubbish off with you.
Quick check
1. You are on a Sydney train after a long flight. The carriage is half empty, so you put your feet up on the seat opposite and doze. A transport officer walks through. What is the realistic outcome?
Select an answer.
2. On the New York subway, you are watching a video. Your friend says nobody minds at low volume. What does the rulebook actually say?
Select an answer.