Gum ban at stations

From Today's Star Ledger:

They did it without fanfare. No speech from the governor. No news conference on the evening news.

When transit officials opened the Secaucus Junction station last year, they quietly imposed a policy unlike anything in effect at any other train station in New Jersey:

They banned gum sales at the convenience store.

After all, somebody somewhere had to take a stand against the scourge of chewing gum. At other stations, the goo mucks up everything from boarding platforms to escalators to train seats.

"It's unseemly, and it's unsightly," NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington said. "I don't think we should be facilitating that kind of thing in a station we spent half a billion dollars to build."

The shop in the atrium at Secaucus still sells plenty of messy stuff to eat -- Krispy Kreme doughnuts dripping with jelly or cream, four varieties of Chex Mix snacks and even Beefaroni by Chef Boyardee.

But none of those treats produces the maintenance nightmares that come from gum...

The policy at Secaucus Junction is just the first step toward a systemwide ban on gum sales, officials said.

For example, when the leases for the vendors at Newark Penn Station expire at the end of the year, the restriction will be incorporated in those contracts and added to those at other bus and train stations as they come up for renewal.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/
base/news-6/1089358250198620.xml

I have never liked gum and I have never understood why anyone would ever throw gum on the floor (haven't THEY ever stepped in gum) or in drinking fountains or urinals (do they think the gum is going to somehow disappear from there).

Yes, just banning the sale in stations will not make much of a dent in the problem but if it sends a signal or gets even a few errant gum chewers to see the error of their ways I say why not.

Gum is banned in Singapore and the penalty for chewing gum is a cain lashing (though I think they are in the process of loosening the ban to allow Nicorette only and .. I am kidding about the penalty being lashing. It is a fairly hefty fine and a public service commitment cleaning up litter which is designed to provide public humiliation. However, bringing gum into Singapore can land you in jail for up to a year.) I am not so sure that this is a bad policy given how much gum liter there is around.

I think just recently they lifted the ban with some restrictions. IIRC, it was in conjunction with some investment or some money-type deal with Wrigley.

Mark Schweber wrote:From Today's Star Ledger:

They did it without fanfare. No speech from the governor. No news conference on the evening news.

When transit officials opened the Secaucus Junction station last year, they quietly imposed a policy unlike anything in effect at any other train station in New Jersey:

They banned gum sales at the convenience store.

After all, somebody somewhere had to take a stand against the scourge of chewing gum. At other stations, the goo mucks up everything from boarding platforms to escalators to train seats.

"It's unseemly, and it's unsightly," NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington said. "I don't think we should be facilitating that kind of thing in a station we spent half a billion dollars to build."

The shop in the atrium at Secaucus still sells plenty of messy stuff to eat -- Krispy Kreme doughnuts dripping with jelly or cream, four varieties of Chex Mix snacks and even Beefaroni by Chef Boyardee.

But none of those treats produces the maintenance nightmares that come from gum...

The policy at Secaucus Junction is just the first step toward a systemwide ban on gum sales, officials said.

For example, when the leases for the vendors at Newark Penn Station expire at the end of the year, the restriction will be incorporated in those contracts and added to those at other bus and train stations as they come up for renewal.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?
/base/news-6/1089358250198620.xml

I have never liked gum and I have never understood why anyone would ever throw gum on the floor (haven't THEY ever stepped in gum) or in drinking fountains or urinals (do they think the gum is going to somehow disappear from there).

Yes, just banning the sale in stations will not make much of a dent in the problem but if it sends a signal or gets even a few errant gum chewers to see the error of their ways I say why not.

Gum is banned in Singapore and the penalty for chewing gum is a cain lashing (though I think they are in the process of loosening the ban to allow Nicorette only and .. I am kidding about the penalty being lashing. It is a fairly hefty fine and a public service commitment cleaning up litter which is designed to provide public humiliation. However, bringing gum into Singapore can land you in jail for up to a year.) I am not so sure that this is a bad policy given how much gum liter there is around.

First it was a photo ban, now its gum. Pretty soon they'll be telling us what color suits to wear and what to read and not to read on a train. Sounds funny, but its not. These little encroachments upon individual freedoms all add up and will come back to haunt us one day.

I'd be quite happy to enforce a "NO GUM" ban - you would be amazed the places people like to put gum when they get done with it. On the hidden side of grab irons, on door control panels, seats, doors, floors, handrails, etc...............gum is SUCH a mess sometimes. You would also be amazed how many times since ive worked here, I've gotten gum on my backside!!! And of course, this always happens on the first trip, so now I'm walking around with gum on my butt all day!!!!! :D

"First it was a photo ban, now its gum. Pretty soon they'll be telling us what color suits to wear and what to read and not to read on a train. Sounds funny, but its not. These little encroachments upon individual freedoms all add up and will come back to haunt us one day."

I don't see it that way. Public museums and libraries ban it. PATH bans all food and drink. If gum is a problem, then NJT has the right to ban it. There is some reasonable correlation here between a problem and a ban, unlike the photo ban.

"DROP THE GUM, TAKE TWO STEPS BACK!"

JLo wrote: I don't see it that way. Public museums and libraries ban it. PATH bans all food and drink. If gum is a problem, then NJT has the right to ban it. There is some reasonable correlation here between a problem and a ban, unlike the photo ban.

A good point I had not thought of.

The Phoenix airport has a guy going around at night with a spray can of something that freezes stuff. He uses it on gum in the concourse carpets and then scrapes up the frozen chunks. There are three terminals, and this endeavor takes him about eight hours. Gum is something that many users are just as inconsiderate about as those who throw cigarettes on the ground, sidewalk, or lit and out of cars on desert roads, etc.

The filter fiber in cigarettes, by the way, take an estimated 350 years to break down.

Bacteria and viruses can live in already-been-chewed gum for over a year. This comes from a relative who is in senior management at Wrigley's. They are very much concerned about backlash.

Now picture this after the whole Gum ban goes into effect...

A man is standing on a platform of some random station on the system, chewing gum AND taking pictures (OMG!!!). Not just N.J.T.P.D., but the F.B.I. & A.T.F. would definatly be called on him and carry out an all out raid complete with mobile command centers and air support.

So just remeber, dont chew gum next to the tracks while you photograph your favorite units.

Some fans I know can't photograph and chew gum at the same time anyway.

I think NJT may actually RELAX their restrictions... Photography (and gum chewing) will be allowed between 3:55 and 4:00PM, on every other Friday during a month with an "R" in its name, during a hailstorm, in the presence of a Boy (or Girl) Scoutmaster, and the disposal of the gum has to be witnessed by two NJT Trainmasters, a Road Foreman, and representatives from both the United Transportation Union (who represent the conductors, and want to see that no gum that has beeen used gets anywhere near their members) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, who will ensure the said gum will not wind up on the crown of any rail where it could concieveably bring a train to a flying halt if it runs over it. Look for a formal directive/Bulletin Order/General notice to this effect on February 30th of next year!

Yeah, and watch someone link gum to some hazardous regulation. Then a hazmat SWAT team is added to the flurry.

Did you all know that if Coke-Cola syrup was invented today it would be categorized as a corrosive under Title 49 of the DOT Hazardous Materials classification scheme? So, don't be carrying a can of Coke while chewing gum with a camera.

rcbsd45 wrote:I think NJT may actually RELAX their restrictions... Photography(and gum chewing) will be allowed between 3:55 and 4:00PM, on every other Friday during a month with an "R" in its name, during a hailstorm, in the presence of a Boy(or Girl) Scoutmaster, and the disposal of the gum has to be witnessed by two NJT Trainmasters, a Road Foreman, and representatives from both the United Transportation Union(who represent the conductors, and want to see that no gum that has beeen used gets anywhere near their members) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, who will ensure the said gum will not wind up on the crown of any rail where it could concieveably bring a train to a flying halt if it runs over it. Look for a formal directive/Bulletin Order/General notice to this effect on February 30th of next year!

Don't forget that you also have to be taking photos with your brothers, best friends, moms co-worker whos maiden name is Smith...

Can't forget that part...

Try chewing gum in Singapore in public.....and see what happens to you there.........

What about chewing tobacco? Transit agencies have bans only on smoking, but what about "spit" ot "snuff"?