I’ve grown up in a technologically oriented age. I’ve had a computer for as long as I can remember, the Internet throughout high school and Google for my collegial and professional careers. Still, throughout most of my first three decades, my native transit agency has had a tough relationship with technology. It’s begun to change, though, and over the next few years, we’ll see it progress even more so.
Until recently, the MTA’s embrace of technology was lukewarm at best. We had heard countless stories of the troubles. Bus tracking couldn’t happen in New York because of GPS interference in the canyons of Manhattan. One contractor had filed suit over a new monitoring project. Countdown clocks were perennially on the horizon. The website resembled something out of the late 1990s.
Lately, though, the agency has turned the page. We have countdown clocks in nearly every A Division station, new rolling stock that incorporates technological advances, a BusTime system slowly spreading across the city and a more dynamic website. No one will confuse the MTA with a groundbreaking technology company, but after refusing to release data for years, we’ll soon enjoy real-time subway arrival data. It’s a solid start.
Earlier this week, I attended a panel on technology in transit. Among the speakers at NYU’s Rudin Center were an app developer, officials from the Port Authority and MTA, a Google engineer and one of the leaders from Open Plans. They spoke at length about the role technology will play in the short- and long-term, and all five of the panelists agreed that the future will involve rapid innovation.
On an individual level, we know what to expect. The MTA will make its subway data available and will soon bring arrival boards in one form or another to its B Division. It’s also seeking to implement a next generation fare payment system. PATH is hoping to incorporate dynamic signage and a better train tracking system. Right now, for instance, Exchange Place-bound customers at the World Trade Center have no idea which train will leave first, and that’s a flaw that should be corrected.
Technological innovations that impact transportation aren’t limited to public transit either. The Port Authority is working on ways to bring more information about road conditions to the public, and it already pays off. When I have to drive around the city, I’ll always check the traffic conditions online before picking my route. In the future, we should have more information concerning delays and problem spots.
Of course, with the improvements — which cost money to implement and money to maintain — come questions. We’re living through an era of austerity. Governments refuse or cannot invest in transit service, and agencies have cut bus routes and train frequency. Meanwhile, technological innovations move forward, and many critics claim that flashy technology is simply a front of worse service. Should we accept countdown clocks if the trade-off is fewer and more crowded trains?
I asked the panelists to comment on that critique, and the answers were similar. We cannot move forward without technology. Many seemed to view the service cuts as somewhat temporary. When the money returns, so too will service. The technological improvements, meanwhile, can cost a fraction of what it would cost to restore the service cuts, and they serve to make commutes more convenient and passenger-friendly. The information helps riders plan their trips, and it can help the operations staff plan routes and frequency. The possibilities are endless.
I buy it. I embrace the technology. I crave the countdown clocks and BusTime, the Google Maps traffic layers and the simple signs pointing to the next train to depart. But I grew up enmeshed in technology. It is no replacement for frequent service, but we need the improvements to move forward. Now if only the MTA would release its Board committee materials in searchable PDF format. It is, after all, 2012.
16 comments
I’m waiting for the day when the technological genie can post arrival times for the station I am arriving into IN THE CAR before I get off. Especially if there is a delay. In fact it would be nice if all cars got the scrolling status updates on delays and interruption far enough up the line to transfer to another line before it is too late. I realize in the outer parts of the boroughs you can check the status before you lose cell service but in the tunnels?
Scrolling updates and transfer times are on my wish list. So would be a dynamically updated map to show services (and delays) at any given time. I can dream right?
* should say arrival times for OTHER lines in that station.
Yes, when I’m coming to an express stop on the local I’m always trying to find a screen to see whether it’s worth it to transfer. It’s sometimes hard to see.
I wonder if rolling out countdown clocks to rolling stock is something that would be possible prior to the system-wide implementation of cellular coverage.
First how about automated stop & bus route anouncements on the cities busses? NYC is the only large transit system today that still doesn’t offer something as basic as that. NJT is buying new busses with Clever Devices AV systems preinstalled, while the rest of the fleet is being retrofitted. total cost $28 Million.
YES PLEASE. It’s so ADA disaster. No information on board to figure out where you are. Thank god for smart phones where I can use the GPS but having to do that is just wrong. SF has had LED displays in the buses on coming streets since the late 90s (at least, they were there when I moved there in 1998).
The first time I came across AVS’s was in Nassau County in 1995, but of course it’s been turned off for quite a while now. It took Westchester 3-years to get there system opperational & it still has a few bugs in it. Thanks a lot Motorolla.
Thank god NYCT buses are quiet without robo announcements.
You mean you haven’t been in the new buses with the loud “PLEASE EXIT THROUGH THE REAR DOOR” announcement every time someone chimes in for a stop?
The bus driver really needs to have control over those annoying announcements to turn them off when not necessary. Playing them every stop just causes everyone to ignore them. Maybe riders would listen if they only came on when needed.
SEAN – everything is more expensive in NYC… and the amount of buses in the system are many times more than any transit system. Trying to compare transit systems elsewhere really isn’t apples to apples.
It runs on radio waves, which are not in the subway, or through fiber-optic cables, which were not in the subway.
First the infrastructure had to be put in place, and that takes big bucks. The technology can follow.
There is a fiber optic network linking every station called SONET which was supposed to be working in 2004 and still is not working. This SONET network fiasco is a scandal rivaling the City Times scandal but has not been reported on yet. A working SONET fiber network would have allowed the TA to do lots of new customer friendly technologies which cannot be done without this sytem running. Big bucks have already been spent on this SONET system(over $1 billion) with miilions more to be spent to make it work. The problems with SONET have nothing to do with putting it in a hundred year old system as they put in a smaller fiber system in the subway on time and on budget in the early 1990s which is still working.
That is pretty egregious, indeed. Can the MTA get its money back for SONET?
Fiber networks are straightforward enough that *heritage tourist railways* are installing them now (in the UK — check out the Ffestiniog). Hell, I could design and contract to install one; the parts are stock from Corning.
“Collegial”? Do you mean “academic”?
Technology can make the service cuts hurt a bit less, but they are no excuse for poor service. I hope they will lead to more consistent headways, for one thing.
Taking the MTA out of the middle ages by allowing them to release data was Jay Walder’s greatest accomplishment.
Ben, you are too young to remember, but the MTA used to be in the dark ages once. In 1970, the only departments who were allowed to use adding machines were accounting and engineering. I guess everyone else had to use abacuses or take off their shoes to count their toes if they needed a number over ten, use a slide rule or do arithmetic by hand.