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The MTA is so sneaky. We were so excited to read the Daily News story about cooler subway platforms. But there's a catch: The stations that will have these special cooling units are ones that are being renovated or will be built in the future. Well, of course we'd hope that any new subway platforms for have better ventilation instead of making subway platforms a sauna of terrible smells (we're shocked we haven't heard about anyone passing out in the stations). The MTA doesn't expect to retro-cool stations, because many of the existing stations are so old, making an upgrade expensive and a pain in the neck. The unbuilt and/or in transition stations that will get a more high-tech cooling system are the Second Avenue line, the 7 line's additional stops, and South Ferry - so you can start waiting now.
If you want more nitty gritty on why the subways are so hot, listen to this podcast from the MTA - think pistons and braking and the energy they create. And the Tracker says that MTA is volunteering buses to be "mobile cooling centers".
Photograph by Shahrzad Elghanayan/AP
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The other morning a woman next to me on the L train fainted.
I wonder how hard or expensive it would be for MTA to install ceiling fans in stations? They have them on the L platform at Union Square, and they work quite well. Seems like a cheap and easy solution...so it will probably never happen!
In the singapore metro they have a transparent wall that seperates the edge of the platform from the tracks. When the train pulls in, the train's door align with doors in this wall. One, it prevents people from hopping or falling onto the tracks or dropping cellphones, iPods, etc. It also allows for fully air conditioned stations. But then again Singapore's a tropical country. And forget the chewing gum (That's a paddlin'...) :)
Aren't there cooling units at the 4,5, and 6 42nd street subway station (and I'm talking a/c units not fans). Granted, it doesn't really do much good for the WHOLE station and to get any real relief you would literally have to be right below the unit, but still if they can do it for 42nd street why can't they do it for the other stations or at least the more crowded stations.
The transparent walls are also used in the Hong Kong subway stations, but forget about it round here. It'll just be graffitied with etching paint, people carving their tags and slapped with stickers so fast that they won't be transparent for long.
Installing air conditioners on the 4, 5, 6 platform at Grand Central Station is the most humane act the MTA has done for the most number of people.
They make the platform considerably cooler and, as was mentioned above, if you really want a quick artic blast you just stand underneath the exhaust...then you take a Nestea plunge. (Now I'm not sure if it holds true for the AC's on the 7 train platfrom also at Grand Central.)
[2]: True, the MTA has no real excuse for not putting ceiling fan units on most if not all platforms.
Those transparent wall things are installed on the stations in the monorail at Newark airport. Not quiet NYC I know, but someone close by was obviously au fait with this technological breakthrough.
There are times when I'm glad I get the open cut platforms at the Prospect Park station, but then comes winter...
I was in DC this week and the Metro was the coolest place in town; the a/c on the platforms was fantastic. If only...