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One of the delightful things about traffic commission and buns is the way he bounces back to paly with new ideas and the utmost of goodwill no matter how many brickbats have been hurled at him for measures which he's introduced which were unpopular at first and later was shown to be wise unlike another well known former commissioner with whom Bonds has often exchanged blows he is also willing to learn and be shown particularly pleased to his reaction when someone asked his opinion about the testing of a new train that would bring people into the city at one hundred twenty five miles an hour Mr Bond seemed to think and I for want to read with it that it is more important to make things more comfortable for the average commuter including the subway rider on trains at that present speed than to worry about saving a few minutes time to put it another way the millions or is it billions that are being spent on developing super high speed surface transportation. Supposedly to compete with air travel might better be put into a wide variety of devices and measures that would make Auden every travel safer more comfortable and more convenient the amenities of the past which have been allowed to lapse due to the pressures on our city traffic system and the bankruptcy of our commuting railroads should be restored a new way is devised to make traveling simpler easier and more efficient speed isn't everything as Mr Bond's quite properly observes but the tri state Transportation Commission and the Metropolitan Transit Authority to say nothing of the federal agencies that are also spending tax money to plan high speed trains seem to ignore these possibility in their obsession to save an hour or two between New York and Boston or New York and Washington or Washington and Boston. Riders between these cities to say nothing of those between Mira points are not as concerned with speed as they are with cleanup cause and stations better service and information more not fewer places to buy tickets and check baggage and with countless other comforts and courtesies of which they have been systematically deprived the restoration and revival of railroad travel is not as seems to be assumed by these money spending public agencies a matter of greatest speed but I think and Mr Barnes thinks is a matter of comfort and convenience take on the two great stations the Pennsylvania and Grand Central I'm not speaking here of the architectural disaster at thirty third Street nor of the clattering of the great interior concourse at forty second but just about such simple matters as the absence of ready means of carrying luggage to and from a train porters are a thing of the past it seems or of exquisite rarity at best and those super supermarket carts are generally unavailable when and where one wants them and anyhow there are unusable up and down the many stairs one has to negotiate to get in and out of the stations What about putting some money and thought into this problem and how about developing a simple system of priorities for getting a taxi by picking up a ticket like in a capital area when crowds come out of terminals air and bus as well as trains is said to having to wire wildly compete for a cab catch as catch can what point is being given to more comfortable and practical telephone bills. To improve on the old ones in which one had to squeeze in sidewise instead of making things worse as the telephone company has done by removing the boots themselves and making the traveler with luggage and packages stand up in the open passageway with no protection at all no place to sit down to consult a phone book or a shelf on which to write a note or place ones change what about making the subway stations better lighted less odorous and with more benches at the right places for those who have to sit when they wait what about their locations for news and candies stands putting them where one actually waits for the trains and has time to do ones by rather than out of sight of the trains where one has to hurry by them what about making commuter trains more comfortable by letting the seats tilt a bit the way they do in a new a movie houses What about making things easier for riders who want to put parcels and coats elsewhere than on their laps racks unhooks actually disappearing from the newer cars What about a wide a seeds for a cross at the most is that a five with three and two so narrow that that it's torture for all but children and we may see a good one about better temperature control in the trains so that excess heating and air conditioning does not result in it back in as steam bath atmosphere in winter or a freezing cold in the summer we want moderation at all times what about really in forcing nonsmoking rules to conduct a shrug add on a crowded commuter train What about making it possible to buy tickets and stations without waiting in line and missing a train what about restoring the twenty six trip tickets for those who come to town not every day but occasionally and most of all what about shortening the walk from platform to street exits. I could go on and on these are the sort of little things that could be done to make travel on our subways and commuting trains more comfortable safer and attractive and they would serve the short run non commuting lines as well but all efforts by letter or phone to get these big agencies that have millions or billions of our money to spend to give some attention to these things are met with doubletalk evasion discourtesy a complete rejection Yes Mr Bond's you're right speed isn't everything let's make our subways and commuting railroads between other towns more comfortable as well as it's speedy safe as well as competitive with the airlines attractive inconvenience for all types of passengers including those who need assistance in carrying things and those who want to reach home with fighting their way up and down dirty crowded stairs and then have to fight some more to catch a cab this wouldn't take billions of dollars or even millions perhaps a few thousand spent judiciously here and there stop playing trains with those high speed toys and start thinking about how to make things less unpleasant for the trains that we have this is Robert C. Weinberg critic at large and architecture and planning.