Riding the subway in Seoul showed me how far behind New York is

AP

As someone who lived in New York City for over a decade, I've relied heavily on the subway system there. But as much as I appreciate the MTA, it's not the most sophisticated or technologically advanced service in the world. A recent trip to South Korea made me realize that it may be time for NYC's subway system to get a major face-lift.

Here are some of the things I found really interesting:

The differences are obvious from the beginning of each trip. You don't need to buy a separate ticket if you download the subway app. It saves a lot of time.

But if you want to buy tickets and don't have change, you can use this to get singles. it saves you from carrying change.

The stations are full of big, widely touted subway maps. They helped me find my way to the right train.