Results tagged “dcmetro”

It looks like cell providers are going the "one for all, all for one" approach with the MTA's request for proposals for cellphone service in 277 subway stations: The Daily News reports that a consortium of cellphone service providers, in cluding Verizon and Cingular, will bid on the MTA's ambitious project. After announcing they wanted bids in August of last year, MTA's initial deadline was in the fall/early winter but they had to push it back because it so complicated. In fact, the MTA's engineers had to "clarify what the agency envisioned and how it could be accomplished." Hmm, given Gothamist's experience, we imagine MTA engineers are expecting the project to come in with a lot of overtime (the Times Square station renovated passage between the N/Q/R/W and 1/2/3 trains took about 50% longer than it should have...18+ months AT LEAST). Verizon said that wiring the DC Metro (a much smaller system) in the 1990s cost $18 million, so we'll guess the NYC plan for 277 of 468 stations (maybe the outdoor, elevated stops aren't counted?) will cost over $100 million. And for now, the plan is just for stations, not the actual cars, though the Daily News article seemed to imply that train service might be available between stations. All the more reason to plug into an iPod (except for the fear of it getting snatched thing)!

The MTA is looking for cell phone providers to bid on developing a cell phone system in the subways. The NY Times has an extensive article about the RFP; Gothamist's favorite part is "The authority wants a company or a consortium to design, build, operate and maintain the system - at no cost to the authority." Of course the MTA doesn't want to have to deal with building it - the agency has enough problems with the trains! There's also some great detail on other cell phone-uage-in-subways, like how the winning provider would have to allow other companies to use the network (the DC Metro has Verizon, which means Sprint users roam and Cingular and T-Mobile are locked out), as well as the pros and cons of the MTA asking a private company to develop the network. While the MTA might be missing out on potential money it could make by developing its own network, Gothamist has to say having an outside party do the job might be the only way the project gets off the ground.

During the morning rush hour, a series of explosions have blasted in downtown London, killing at least two people and casualties (which include both the wounded and dead) were hovering near a hundred. The front of a double decker bus was sheared off in one explosion, while a number of explosions (anywhere from three to seven) hit between six Underground stations (Edgware Road, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, Russell Square, Aldgate East, Moorgate). People may still be trapped underground near the King's Cross station (here's an evacuation picture), which sounds awful as the London Underground tunnels are incredibly narrow and very deep underground. Prime Minister Tony Blair feels it's "reasonable" to suspect the explosions are terror-related, and he will be leaving the G8 conference in Scotland to check on the scene; the conference, however, will go on. Here's more from BBC News, and Londonist's breaking news updates show that the Underground explosions were related to "power surges" at first.

The new line's cost will be about $16.8 billion dollars, with $3.8 billion of it for the first segment, between 96th and 63rd Streets. The Times notes that the first segment of the line would benefit the most riders immediately - 202,000 - while the whole line would expect to carry just over half a million riders a day. The Post reports on what the new station will be like - "sleek, brightly lit stations equipped with climate-control ventilation and built with no columns along the platform." MTA Capital Construction president Mysore Nagaraja said, "These will be 21st century stations. There will be no columns, which will provide for better circulation of riders [on and off trains]." Besides Gothamist wondering if there would be anything besides a 21st century station in 2005, Gothamist has to agree that a columnless subway platform would be easier. Think the London Underground, DC Metro, or Hong Kong MTR.