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.

A glimpse through the March MTA Board meeting materials revealed to the world a long-awaited development from the transit authority. The MTA had issued a procurement call for the technology to release a real-time data feed of available subway arrival information. The feed would cover the A Division lines that currently enjoy the benefits of countdown clocks and would open up a whole new world of transit data for app developers.

Earlier today, I spent the morning at an event at NYU’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, and this upcoming data feed was a hot topic. The early a.m. event focused on technology and urban mobility. It featured panelists from the MTA and PATH and developers from Google Transit and OpenPlans (as well as Adam Ernst, a Second Ave. Sagas advertiser). Ernest Tollerson, the MTA’s Director of Environmental Sustainability & Compliance, opened the talk with a brief discussion on the real-time data feed.

According to Tollerson, the authority hopes to have the train arrival estimates ready to go later this year. At the time, app developers will be able to grab this information that covers 37 percent of all subway riders. It will be, he said, “a transformative moment in the life of the city and the MTA.”

Now, we’ve known about the looming public release of this data for a few weeks, but Tollerson let slip some additional info as well. After the real-time data streams are live, the authority will look for ways to push out real-time information for B Division lines that are elevated or at-grade. In other words, most lines out in Brooklyn and Queens would be in line to receive these feeds as well.

Tollerson and the rest of the panelists spoke about the ways in which transit technology can make trips more convenient. If we know what’s happening where and when before we leave our house, we are better prepared for delays or the need to find alternate routes. Making the voluminous train location data available to the public is a huge step for the MTA and for the millions of people who ride the subways every day. That moment cannot come soon enough.

If all goes according to plan, the MTA will soon offer real time train information from the countdown clocks to app developers. (Photo by Kim Last)

As the MTA has expanded the widely popular countdown clocks throughout the A Division stations, a common cry has concerned the lack of publicly-available real-time data. As I mentioned during my talk at the Transit Museum last month, Transit is sitting on a wealth of data that could redefine how we ride and wait for trains if only they would make the feeds from the countdown clocks available in real time.

A tidbit in this month’s MTA Board book reveals that the authority may read to release the data. According to the procurement summary, Acquia, Inc. has bid $771,758 on a contract to install cloud-based infrastructure and a web application that will allow the MTA to offer a real-time feed of train location data to the public.

“The MTA can build on that success” of the countdown clocks, the Board materials read, “and expand our customer’s access to real-time data exponentially if the MTA creates a web feed for application software developers. Creation of an MTA web feed of subway arrival estimates for A Division lines 1 through 6 will make it possible for app developers to deliver real-time information currently displayed in countdown clocks to our customers’ cell phones, smartphones and other hand-held digital devices.”

Such a feed would be a welcome addition to the transit app landscape and would allow straphangers to eliminate the element of surprise from many of their off-peak subway trips. According to the MTA documents, 37 percent of the daily ridership would gain access to any apps that incorporate real-time subway data, and in the future, the MTA would provide real-time subway arrival estimates from B Division routes as well.

To get this effort off the ground, the MTA will leverage an existing New York State Senate contract with Acquia to use cloud computing and Drupal as a content management and development frameworks. The authority aims to spend just over $521,000 with a contingency of $250,000 included in the bid. It is worth the cost.

“A launch of a web feed for lines 1 through 6 would significantly improve customer service and being to deliver the same level of customer service available to those who use mass transit in other major U.S. and world cities, including London, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Washington,” the staff summary said. I’m looking forward to it.

Paul Fleuranges offers up a demonstration of the MTA's new On The Go video board. Photo courtesy of New York City Transit.

At a few stations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, the MTA has installed touch-screen information centers that serve as a clearinghouse for transit information and neighborhood direction. These “On-The-Go” stands are part of a pilot, and now, according to The Daily News, the MTA wants to bring these terminals everywhere. If all goes right, 468 subway stations may be equipped with these information kiosks.

Pete Donohue has the skinny on the authority’s plans:

The MTA wants to install 47-inch interactive tablets throughout the entire 468-station subway system, the Daily News has learned. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority envisions posting the “virtual agent” near turnstile banks “where the station booth or phone bank has been removed or (in) other areas of unused space,” according to an agency document.

The digital On the Go! screens would also be placed on platforms, replacing standalone paper maps and weekly service diversion notices that workers now change by hand. Going digital will allow officials to update information and advertising remotely, officials said. The ads could even be tailored to specific times and neighborhoods.

…The MTA doesn’t yet have a rollout schedule or project cost, [Transit spokesman Charles] Seaton said. It’s soliciting information from private firms on how to move forward, he said. One possibility is having a corporate sponsor pick up the tab in exchange for having its logo on every kiosk or a share in the advertising receipts. The screens are not part of any plan to further reduce station staffing, the authority said.

That last item will, of course, placate the folks who have long protested the decline of the station agent. In a way, though, it’s a false promise as the station agents are gone and not coming back. Still, the digital screens could be more helpful in certain ways. They can be connected to a network that allows the MTA to update the boards with real-time train alerts and can provide more information about the surrounding neighborhoods than many station agents could.

The real question though concerns vandalism: Can these screens withstand the subway environment and all that comes with it? The pilot devices are built to take a beating, and the other 465 others would have to be as well. Meanwhile, the MTA would also have to deal with inevitable upgrades. A typical computer is out of date after a year and ready for replacement in three of four. These items too may need to be on a replacement cycle or else the technology will grow stale as the Metrocard Vending Machine has. In any event, more information and a better delivery system should only improve commutes.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m one of the judges in the ongoing MTA AppQuest contest, and today, the MTA and ChallengePost released a video urging the public to vote for their favorite apps. In a few weeks, my colleagues and I were determine our winner, but for the next 23 days, the public can vote for their favorite. Right now, it appears as though the NYC Station Finder is in the lead, but take a glance through the submissions gallery and pick your favorite today. The winner of the popular vote will get a $2000 prize, and the public will get a whole new slate of transit apps to help augment our rides.