A Simpler Solution to NYC's Subway Garbage Problem

It's great that New York City is trying out novel approaches to making its notoriously filthy and smelly subway system a little less, well, filthy and smelly. Experimentation is a crucial component to problem solving, after all, and far too few transit agencies are willing to take risks to find out what works. But this is perhaps the silliest idea I've ever run across as a way to reduce the accumulation of garbage. Via The New York Times:

A couple of things here: First, not giving subway passengers a place to throw away their garbage won't result in less garbage. The garbage will just end up someplace else, whether it's in city-owned trash bins on the street near subway exits, or just strewn all over the platform or inside train cars. The former may very well accomplish what MTA is after here, pushing the burden of collection on the city's Department of Sanitation, but the latter seems certain to lead to an even more overburdened MTA garbage staff.