Ten days ago, I linked to a WNYC series about improving our commutes and asked SAS readers to opine about their daily trips to and from home. Yesterday, WNYC dropped another podcast about improving our commutes. This one was on technology and its impact on the commute. The comments on WNYC’s website are telling. Most commuters are relying on iPhone applications, Google Maps, HopStop for the directions and the Kindle and iPods for distractions. Think bigger, I say.
The best way for the MTA to improve my commute would be to offer real-time transit information on its website and for every station to be equipped with train arrival boards. I live five minutes from my subway stop. If I could check the status of my train and then arrive at the station just in time, I could streamline my commute. If I knew how long I would have to wait for a train, I could better temper my expectations and scheduling. While both of these proposals would require true technological investments, a system truly prepared and designed for the 21st Century should feature this information technology.
4 comments
Seems like a good idea, but I think the first step would be for the MTA to get that information; it can’t release information that it doesn’t have itself. Wasn’t it having trouble figuring out where its buses and trains were? I still find it hard to believe that the countdown boards can be so accurate in Washington DC, and yet so far off for the L train here.
One city that both has the information and gives it out for free is Portland, Oregon. You can see the info they make available here:
http://developer.trimet.org/ws_docs/
The information exists for most of the IRT already, thanks to ATS.
PA/CIS is a work in (slow) progress. This isn’t a pipe dream. I don’t know if the same information will be available online (but I sure hope it will).
The Myrtle Ave L stop has a monitor showing the location of every train on the line. And yet the MTA web site doesn’t.
The subway arrival information would be an excellent idea, although I guess it would eliminate the comforting ritual of peering down the tracks to see if the train is coming yet.