The system should be clear to beginners and seasoned commuters alike. The PA system in the subway is useless. Always has been. They should be like the 4 and 5 and the 2 and 3. Digital boards that light up for all stops, listing connections/transfers and an automated announcement.

I took the 2 train uptown to 42nd to grab the 7 (I work in Queens), and it was easy to follow it along (Never took the 2 train before). Picked up the 2 at Park Place, going uptown, and watched the sign board as the stops were made. It’s clear at a glance where the train is going, and what the next stop is.

The human conductor should have the right to override the digital announcements if there is a problem. I was on the 4/5 the other day and it was stuck at 14th St because it was RIGHT behind a 5 that I just missed that rolled out of the station.

The bottom line is that the signs, no matter what technology, are only as accurate as those people that change them. It should be one button to hit, and everything changed.

Get rid of the PA system, and go to the automated announcers with the boards lighting up all the stops.

Keep the conductor, it’s another level of security and confidence should there be a problem or emergency.

The bottom line is that the system should be easy to use, and you should know at a moments glance or earshot:

1) Where your train is
2) What direction it is going.
3) Next stop on the train.
4) What stops it makes (lit board).

That would make more folks secure when taking the train. Some of DO use the local #7 trains, ya know .

I’d like to officially switch my position on the rollover signs. If the train crew can’t be bothered to press a button to make the LED signs correct, how can I possibly expect them to actually walk into the cars and change the manual ones?

Any new rider who needs to get off at a local stop will probably have the “green circle” thing mentioned by the person who gives them directions.

I say the dwell time is too short, Julia says it’s long enough. The only way to resolve that conflict is to time how long it takes to change the roll signs in six cars.

New Spanish-speaking immigrants always crack up the first time they hear the conductors shouting “Loco loco loco! Loco tren!” They know what it really means, but it sounds pretty funny in Spanish.

This isn’t rocket science, people!

Glad to see these, btw.

And no big deal for short-turns, just get off and wait for the next train.

L trains sometimes short-turn at Broadway Junction. 7 trains sometimes short-turn at Shea Stadium. I’m not sure that these changes are frequent enough to be a major point of confusion, but they do happen.

Yeah, but they’re still running older equipment on the 7. Newer trains do indeed have that capability.

I don’t really have a sense for how many people benefit from this new feature. The 7 is mainly a commuting line, and I suspect even the most dull-witted commuters eventually figure out how the thing works. The most likely destinations for non-regular riders would be the Manhattan stations and Shea Stadium, and every train makes those stops. Regulars, to be sure, will quickly figure out that a circle means local and a diamond means express.

But as a daily rider of the 7, I welcome this change because it’s awfully difficult at times to hear the PA system to determine what train it is. Sure we’ve learned to strain to hear the announcements but I think regular riders will learn to trust the signs if they function as well as the TA thinks they will. Remember, the 7 is not a tourist line…it only has 3 Manhattan stops and the shuttle duplicates two of the stops already. It’s meant to serve regular commuters and this will go a long way to help cut confusion on the platform.