If you've seen any of the MTA's new ads, you may have been alerted to the fact that train countdown clocks have now been activated at 100 subway stations. But did you know that the MTA actually beat its own goal to install 75 by the end of the year? NYC Transit President Thomas Prendergast said in a statement, "This is all about providing information to our customers who may see similar systems in other locations and ask, ‘Why not here?’ Well, we asked ourselves the same thing and we are now moving briskly ahead with this project." more ›

As promised, the DOT is moving forward with a plan to install 1,500 countdown clocks at busy intersections in all five boroughs. (Here's a pdf map of the locations.) The crosswalk timers let pedestrians know exactly how much time they have before the next wave of traffic crashes down on them, and the DOT says they "take the guesswork out of" crossing the street. Today Mayor Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced that installation will begin this month. They also released the Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan, which they call the most comprehensive report of its kind in the nation, analyzing more than 7,000 crash records to find ways to improve safety conditions. Among other things, the report found: more ›

Knowledge is power, and commuters cooling their heels on subway platforms in Brooklyn are a little more empowered today, because real-time train arrival countdown clocks or message screens have became self-aware operational. As we speak, countdown clocks installed in several stations along the 2 3 lines in Brooklyn are now letting people know how much longer they'll be seething. (These are the Bergen Street, Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum, Nostrand Avenue and Kingston Avenue stations.) And the MTA isn't stopping the countdown to ecstasy there! more ›

MTA Czar Jay Walder believes subway countdown clocks will take some of the "angst" out of commuting. But a recent survey suggests many straphangers are still aggravated, clocks be damned. At 145th Street, jazz singer Nerissa Campbell tells the Times she felt disillusioned after the A train did not arrive when the clock promised. "It lied!" she said, laughing. "They shouldn’t spend money if they’re not going to get it quite right." (Cost: almost $400 million.) Another commuter, student Bianca Ansari, declares, "It doesn’t change the way I commute... As a New Yorker, you know that nothing works." Which reminds us! NYC Transit tweeted this morning: "If a subway clock is an hour off, its not broken. Our ad vendor is changing time in preparation for Daylight Savings Time." more ›

Now Bronx straphangers know how much longer to boogie down on subway platforms at five stations along the Pelham 6 Line. The MTA has been tweaking the countdown clocks at stations along the L line for about two years now, and the authority plans to roll out the boards at 152 stations on the numbered lines by early 2011. The stations blessed with the slick new "Public Address Customer Information Screens" [PA/CIS] are Brook Ave, Cypress Ave, E.143rd St-St. Mary’s St, E.149th St and Longwood Ave. more ›

The subterranean countdown clocks that let commuters know how long they'll have to wait for the next train will be installed at over 150 stations next year. Currently in use only on the L line, the electronic marvels have long been familiar to subway riders in Washington and London. New MTA Czar Jay Walder says studies show that riders in London felt three-times worse waiting when they didn't know how long the delay would be, so get ready to feel thrice better, New York! more ›

Midtown bus riders will now get to enjoy the luxury granted only to L train commuters up until now—knowing exactly how long they'll have to wait at their stop with convenient nearby countdown clocks. Eight LED screens have been installed across 34th street, giving riders arrival times for the M34 and M16 buses. The project costs the city nothing since a technology company donated the screens and buses are already equipped with GPS. Mayor Bloomberg pointed out that the technology is "similar to that used to track military vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan.” more ›