Faced with shrinking budgets and smaller staffs, New York City’s Metropolitan Trash Authority (MTA) has had to get creative to deal with trash volumes that are not declining in kind. Currently, the MTA’s garbage crews collect around 40 tons of garbage per day in the city’s subway system. But a new idea for curbing that trash seems a bit off the rails.

In an experiment, MTA has removed all trash receptacles at a subway station in Queens and another in Greenwich Village. The almost charmingly optimistic theory is that travelers will be forced to carry trash away with them or simply be trained to dispose of it before they enter the stations. The trial will run for two months, with early anecdotal evidence indicating mixed success. New Yorkers are a pragmatic lot, so it will not surprise you to learn that many have adapted by just dropping trash at will.

Let’s hope the MTA doesn’t get it into their heads to remove restrooms next.

Source: New York Times