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If there weren't actual photographs, we wouldn't have believed news that the MTA was finally testing the real-time train arrival displays. MTA CEO Eliliot Sander said, "With the introduction of this new system, garbled subway messages are on their way to becoming a thing of the past along the L line and eventually the entire system." Well, expect it in many years for the other parts of the system - the MTA was supposed to put the real-time message boards last July. The MTA is moving towards having trains run automatically and closer together, for more service. Again, we'll believe it when it happens, but the boards are an exciting step back to the 20th century!
Janelle spotted them at her station:
Testing going on at 9am this morning at the Lorimer stop - not sure about any other L stations. My next train was coming in 6 minutes, so I decided to pull out the iPod after all. They were making announcements on the intercom right around the time the train would enter the station, reminding everyone to step back from the platform edge.
And in true MTA fashion, the agency must make sure you know it's not accurate. Janelle writes, "Times were not, in fact, accurate. The train was due in 2 minutes according to the sign, but rolled in as it ticked down to 1 minute." Heh.
Photographs by the real janelle on Flickr
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Yawn. Many other systems have had signs of that type for years.
For the MTA this is very exciting news. The present is now!
Woohoo! They also said they are "close to fixing" the software problem that prevents this from working on the IRT (numbered) lines.
FWIW, the Métro in Paris also tends to show "1 minute" right as the train is pulling in.
The DC metro system has this, and I found them extremely accurate. But you're right - expect them to take many years to expand.
I took virtually the same two pictures at the Union Square L platform yesterday afternoon. Very cool; can't wait for a systemwide rollout.
What is the over/under on the length of time it will take John Liu (or some other ambulance chaser who whines on behalf of immigrants who refuse to assimilate and/or learn English) to complain that these signs are only in English? Then the MTA will have to spend more time & money to put these signs in 50 different languages.
boo-boo, the announcements aren't in any other language besides English either.
assimilate!?!? and be a cultureless automaton a-hole like you? no thanks.
assimilate!?!? and be a cultureless automaton a-hole like you? no thanks.
when did learning the language of your host country become a bad thing? And why is it always the same people that mock the Ugly American for travelling and expecting everyone to speak English but also give foreigners LIVING in the US a free pass on language? Why the double standard?
Hey, let's make up a fake issue and argue about it.
I fail to see what impact a sign indicating the impending arrival time of a train has to do with increasing throughput on a line.
It serves no purpose in efficiency other than to give someone something to bitch about.
A turnabout at the Manhattan terminus might help, as there's no reason to have a unit loiter at the terminus during peak travel hours, waiting for the outbound track to clear for turnaround.
The L was not engineered for the current demand.
Automation of the system changes nothing.
Even with automation, the control remains in the hands of the motorman(person). The re-engineering of the line, with re-programming of the light/go-ahead system, would allow some increase in passenger throughput.
A major capital project, such as the construction of a median express track would greatly help, but would cost billions, take years, and disrupt travel for an equivalent period.
Creating Express lines (as with the surface lines)
would also solve nothing, for "you can only go as fast as the guy in front of you.".
I am at a loss for possibilities for improving throughput on this line, other than major projects (maybe an Express bus line from high volume stations).
Any other ideas other than kvetching?
Bofug
The automation takes over for the motorman and allows trains to run at variable distances between each other based on speed. This is a significant improvement over the current "block" signalling system since the track is divided into inches instead of several hundred-foot parts. Since it is controlled by computers, a side effect is that this information is easy to relay to the signs in stations.
w78, it is commonly accepted that "Ugly American" is now a derogatory term for the stereotypical behavior of Americans abroad. Most people have no idea of the source of the phrase, only it's current useage.
For this we endured years of limited or no service? Given the incompetance with which the MTA and its contractors have executed this whole mess, I give it 12 months before it breaks down.
By the way, remember those signs that appeared in 2004 warning L riders of service delays "through 2005"? Well 2005 and 2006 came and went -- with weekend-long shutdowns and 11:30 last train curfews -- and now, two years later, we get a fucking LED display to tell us exactly how late the next train will be?
They claim to be putting more trains onto the L line this year, but given how much we've been lied to by the MTA, I'll believe it when I see it.
The shutdowns were not for the LED signs. Those are also coming to the IRT lines without any service disruptions. The shutdowns were for the new automated train control system called CBTC, which yes, went way over budget and over schedule. However, the ability to deliver this information to the LED signs was a convenient side of effect of CBTC.
Stop whining L train riders. Yeah you get shutdown for a bit (check out the F train shutdowns now), and it sucks for you because your alternative means of transportation are more limited, but now you got the most advanced train in the city (and in some ways world). Aren't you the first to get fly wheels and shit? Stop complaining already jesus.
oh and PS if the time displays are all wrong it's our own fault because didn't they go with some ghetto european system and not those pinpoint japanese ones which manage to continue to work correctly through earthquakes
Damian - as addressed in a previous comment, the LED signs are a part of the overhaul in the signal system. The new system allows:
a) Notification of arrival times
b) Multiple trains to run within a single segment of the line
(a) is the most apparent result of the improvement, but (b) is more important because more trains can run during peak hours.
"now you got the most advanced train in the city (and in some ways world)"
FTrain, the MTA is now reversing the work on automation of the L Train, bringing it back to a fully manual system. The reason for this is that 1) it turns out that the transit worker's contract with the MTA makes it illegal to automate trains and 2) the expansion of the L Train service involves bringing older, larger trains that cannot be automated back to the L Track. Therefore, the current shut-downs of the L are in fact making the system more antiquated than it was before. Also, both the airtrain at JFK and the 14 line in Paris are more advanced than the L was ever going to be.
Thanks, srock, I think we should follow that logic through to completion - shut down the L entirely and fix up a line that needs it more (and riders will appreciate it more) - the J.
The L train just sucks and it's just gonna get a lot worse and no one's doing anything about it. Look at all the new buildings in Greenpoint and Williamsburg..how do you think all those people are gonna get to work at 8 am? You really think a little sign with arrival times means anything? They need more trains and another track. There's no intelligent urban planning being done at all..it's like the MTA is blind to the entire expansion of Brooklyn.
There is nothing wrong with automating trains. And besides, the MTA wasn't going to completely get rid of drivers from the trains. In a large city like NY, doing that would be like lighting a fire under their butt. And no matter how much improvement they put into our subway system, they can never take the risk of no one inside the cab monitoring computer driving, the system is forever old and degrading.
And what is the TWU's problem?! They scoff over the slightest change. And that brainwashing Touissant isnt helping either. They were going to get better benefits after the 2005 strike and they still rejected it. Less train personnel=More customer assistants=Better local and tourist satisfaction=More benefits and raises for workers.
Language wise: even non-english speaking people will understand that "Manhattan L Train - 2 min" means, "Manhattan L Train - 2 minutos" in Spanish.
Therefore you guys have no point.
For those claiming that this new system has no purpose... Think again.
There are blind commuters that appreciate the automated spoken message when the train is approaching the platform.
Last, for those that claim DC has had this LED and notification system for years... NYC subway is the oldest more extensive Subway system in the world. It's a miracle that they're even able to adapt new technologies to it.
The Dominican Republic, one of the poorest country in the world, i establishing a new subway system that has built=in LCD screens in each train cars... does that make their subway system better than NYC's?
Most of your negative critisms have zero justification. You are a bunch of idiots.
M
Md is totally right, the signs show only a destination, 8th avenue is 8th avenue and Lorimer is Lorimer, etc...in any language
Also, with respect to MTA being crappy urban planners, dont blame the MTA for urban planning, blame the city. Most of the development in Williamsburg and Greenpoint has occurred in the last 5 to 10 years, to begin researching construction of a new subway line would take about 2 or 3 years and expansion of the line to a third track is equally impractical because of the fact that the line runs between buildings in Manhattan and is therefore limited by the width of the street before it would begin to risk undermining structures.
Third, in case you hadn't been reading, the signs are just one of the side benefits of the automation, THEY ARE NOT THE AUTOMATION. For a system that is over 100 years old and has more miles of track than any other in the world, something like this is a MAJOR benefit and a great step in the right direction. By no means am I a huge fan of the MTA (I cant count the number of times that I've waited endlessly for a train after 10 on the 8th Avenue line) but I think they do deserve some credit for this positive step in the right direction toward bringing the system into the 21st century (although now 7 years late)
One side note, in todays AM New York, there was a small not that "the transit committee decided to wait until September to decide whether to order new equipment for the L line." I quote "When transit decided to automate the L, they did not predict areas like Williamsburg would become inundated with new residents, leaving the line understocked." I.E. They planned automation before the massive development.