Comments on: MTA scrapping the bus arrival board project

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By: Second Ave. Sagas | Blogging the NYC Subways » Blog Archive » Gear problem puts the brakes on R160 delivery

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:54:00 +0000

[...] year, we’ve seen stories about problems with the MTA’s security camera project and its bus arrival board project. We know that implementation of the arrival boards on the L line has been fraught with delays and [...]

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:22:25 +0000

Which contractor did London use for its bus arrival boards?

By: Second Ave. Sagas | Blogging the NYC Subways » Blog Archive » When subway security and MTA technology collide

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:32:02 +0000

[...] this is a new technology and the MTA is involved. If you’ve read yesterday’s post, you can guess where this one is heading. According to a recent New York State Comptroller’s [...]

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:37:05 +0000

Sounds like the MTA should review its contracts with Siemens and see if they can get some money back. KC has intentionally delayed paying Siemens until they can the AVL system working.

By: mg

mg — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:17:04 +0000

siemens is also behind the failed train arrival boards on the IRT lines. They should be banned from bidding on MTA projects ever again.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:11:29 +0000

Oh, so it was Siemens. That explains everything. They were also behind the CBTC system on the L train, the one that was supposed to have been in service in 2005 or so, but seems to have been postponed indefinitely after quite a lot of time and money spent on the MTA’s part.

By: TG

TG — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:02:43 +0000

The problem the MTA currently faces is that it can’t predict how long until a bus arrives, given its location. In a traffic environment as complex and dynamic as NYC, it is understandably very difficult to make such predictions. All it takes is one wheelchair boarding to throw a bus a minute or two off its previously-anticipated schedule.

The simple solution to this would be to display bus locations as distances, rather than times. E.g. M101 is 0.8 miles away, M103 is 0.4 miles away, etc. The information may be less useful than when provided in minutes, but it would be precisely accurate. People are intelligent enough to use their own experience and judgment to interpret what the numbers mean in practice.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:11:54 +0000

I will bet you money the problem is the decision to use Siemens. The Siemens bus system is adapted from their train system, and they have struggled to make it work for buses. The bus system here in Kansas City, MO chose Siemens for a new BRT line and it has taken over two years of work for them to make the arrival time system reliable. This is a single line without much congestion. I can only imagine how badly the Siemens system failed in New York City.

NextBus would have been a better choice. Their system is in use in many transit systems with great success, for example San Francisco and Portland. It sounds like the MTA screwed itself by choosing a cheap bid from a vendor willing to cut prices in order to get into the market.