ESL Podcast 938 - Learning to Ride the Subway

subway - a system of underground trains, usually in a large city

Leona rides the subway to work every day.

ticket machine - a machine that sells tickets, especially tickets used to ride a bus, train, or boat

Use the ticket machine to buy all-day passes: two for adults and three for children.

ticket window - a desk where people can purchase tickets from a cashier while the two are separated by a large piece of glass

Why do movie theaters use ticket windows? Wouldn't it be friendlier if the cashier and the customers were face-to-face?

fare - the amount of money paid for a ride or a trip on a particular type of transportation; the cost of being transported on one type of transportation from one place to another

The city wants to raise the bus fare from $1.65 to $1.95, and people are really upset about it.

train - a vehicle with many cars connected together, where each car has wheels that rest on long metal strips on the ground, with a pre-defined route

Sorry we're late, but we had to stop while a really long train passed through town.

turnstile - a device that turns when pushed and allows only one person at a time to pass through an entry way, usually to control who can enter and/or to count the number of people who pass through

The turnstiles are too narrow for people who have strollers and people who use wheelchairs, so they get to go around them.

slot - a small, flat opening, especially for a coin, a ticket, or a piece of paper

Don't forget to take your debit card out of the slot when you're done using the ATM!

to retrieve - to get something back; to collect something that was temporarily somewhere else

The computer crashed. Do you think I'll be able to retrieve the document I was working on?

line - one of many routes in a bus or train system

Take the purple line to the Main Square, and then take the orange line out to our neighborhood.

station - a place where people get on and off of busses or trains, and where they wait for the bus or train they need to take

Is this the bus station where I can catch a bus to Cleveland?

transfer - permission to switch from one type of transportation to another without paying again

Keep your bus ticket in your pocket, because you can use it as a transfer to another bus line for the next two hours.

connecting - a second bus, train, or airplane that allows one to continue one's trip to the ultimate destination

It looks like we're going to have to be at the airport for more than three hours while we wait for our connecting flight.

express - faster than regular types of transportation, with few or no stops between the most important places

I wish there were an express train connecting Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle!

local - slower than some other types of transportation, with many stops every few blocks

If we take the local bus, it could take up to two hours to get to City Hall. Can't we just drive instead?

station agent - a person whose job is to give directions, help people purchase tickets, tell people which way to go, and maintain safety and cleanliness in the transportation system

During the summer months, the city has to hire additional station agents to handle all the tourists' questions.

platform - the flat, raised area where people sit and stand while waiting for a bus or train to arrive

Please stay behind the yellow line on the train platform so that you don't get hit by the side of the train.

tracks - the long, parallel pieces of metal that a train's wheels travel upon

If the engineer goes too quickly around that curve, the train could jump off its tracks.