MTA Technology

Via web, Subway Time available on all mobile platforms

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 16, 2013

A screenshot of the On-The-Go version of Subway Time.

Subway Time, the MTA’s subway tracking app that uses data from the system’s countdown clocks to provide real-time train location, is now available on all mobile platforms via the agency’s On The Go website. Prior to today, the app had been available only on the iOS and Android platforms, but the web-based tool — which features a better scroll than the iPhone app — can now be accessed by anyone with a smartphone and a data connection.

“It all comes down to our mantra – Know Before You Go,” Paul J. Fleuranges, the MTA’s Senior Director of Corporate and Internal Communications, said of Subway Time’s latest implementation. “When you have access to real-time information on the go, it makes your trip that much easier, and it gives you the power to work around any problems that might arise.”

To access the interface, mosey on over to http://onthego.mta.info/ and scroll down to the fifth link. The rest is self-explanatory.

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View from Underground

A bad afternoon at East 125th St.

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 16, 2013

Via Second Ave. Sagas on Instagram.

Amidst a rigorous debate on platform edge doors and potentially illegal slowdowns, a pair of incidents forced the Lexington Ave. subway nearly entirely offline during rush hour yesterday evening. Matt Flegenheimer had the gruesome details, and they are gruesome indeed.

After initial reports that a man had been struck and killed by a train after a confrontation on a platform at East 125th Street in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, the police said that in fact the man had been killed and another was injured in separate episodes near the station.

The man who was killed had been on a train, defecating between two cars, when he fell on the tracks and was struck by the train, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.

In an unrelated episode, Mr. Browne said, a bloodied man with a broken pelvis emerged from the tracks at the 125th Street station just before the fatal accident. Mr. Browne said the man told investigators that he did not know what had happened to him. The Fire Department said the man was in serious but stable condition at Harlem Hospital Center.

No amount of platform edge doors will prevent some riders from defecating between subway cars, but maybe we should reconsider my point on subway restrooms? Or at least take a look at articulated trains?

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New Jersey Transit

Reuters: NJ Transit officials erroneously modeled Sandy surge

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 15, 2013

Even as New Jersey Transit nears its pre-Sandy service levels, stories of its storm preparation failures have continued to emerge. Despite questions concerning what NJ Transit executives knew and when, we’ve seen Gov. Christie defend his deputies in charge of the transit agency. Now, a new casts further light on mistakes New Jersey Transit made in advance of Sandy’s landfall.

The latest comes to us from Reuters where Ryan McNeill and Janet Roberts have reported that NJ Transit botched its own modeling. They report:

New Jersey Transit incorrectly used federal government software that otherwise could have warned officials against a disastrous decision to leave hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment in a low-lying rail yard before Superstorm Sandy struck, a Reuters examination has found. The agency based its decision, at least in part, on software provided by the National Weather Service that allows users to simulate an approaching hurricane and show areas vulnerable to flooding from storm surge, according to Sandy-related forecast documents obtained by Reuters from New Jersey Transit. Exactly how the agency used the software is unclear because the agency declined to answer any specific questions.

Reuters asked for the documents that New Jersey Transit relied upon in deciding to leave the trains at its Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny, New Jersey. Among the documents was a screen-shot of storm prediction software that indicated the user had the storm traveling northeast, away from the New York area, while moving at the wrong speed. As a result, the software predicted surges that were about half the levels actually forecast – errors that underestimated the threat to the Meadows complex.

New Jersey Transit takes issue with the findings. But a Reuters analysis shows that had the software been used to produce surge estimates similar to forecasts, agency leaders could have seen a different picture. The result would have pointed to potential inundation of a large portion of the rail yard, mirroring the flooding that ultimately occurred.

In a back-and-forth with Reuters, New Jersey Transit defended its actions. “NJ Transit used the most current weather forecasts and available data at that time,” spokesman John Durso said, “along with accepted analysis practices by emergency management professionals and historical experiences, to inform and guide decisions up to and through Sandy.”

Yet, despite these protests, a Reuters examination of documents made available by the agency showed that their inputs into the modeling software differed from the forecasts at the time. Additionally, New Jersey Transit did not reach out to the National Weather Service’s New York or New Jersey offices to receive updated forecasts or storm surge predictions.

Ultimately, New Jersey Transit cannot undo their costly mistakes to model the storm and protect their rolling stock, but it seems, again, that someone should be held responsible for the agency’s failures. If anything, the corporate culture seems to be one of isolationism and stubbornness, and the people who suffer the most are the riders. At a certain point, saying “Well, we tried” isn’t good enough, and we’re well past that point.

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TWU

TWU, MTA square off over slowdown order

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 15, 2013

A TWU poster urged TOs to slow down as their trains enter stations.

As I briefly mentioned on Monday afternoon, in response to two recent high-profile 12-9 incidents, the Transport Workers Union Local 100 had mulled issuing a slowdown order, urging TOs to crawl into subway stations. Tonight, more details of the order emerged, and the MTA responded forcefully, citing the Taylor Law. As we near the one-year anniversary of the expiration of the last TWU contract, accusations of politicking are in the air.

The TWU poster [pdf] that has gone up throughout the system hit the Internet tonight, and it urges TOs to enter stations with “extra care.” It says, “Whether someone jumped, fell or was pushed in front of the train, more than 150 T/Os have had to deal with the after-effects of their train hitting someone on the tracks. None of the 150-plus 12-9s were caused by improper operation by any T/O. However, we might prevent some 12-9s by coming into stations more slowly.”

But how slow is “slowly”? Pretty slowly. “In the interest of safety, enter every station as if there is a pair of yellow lanterns at the entrance,” the sign says. “Slow down, blow your horn, and proceed with caution. Preventing a 12-9, and saving yourself the emotional trauma and potential loss of income that go with it, is worth a few extra minutes on your trip. If you are asked where you lost your time, say you were operating safely to prevent 12-9s.” The double yellow lantern essentially means the trains would head into stations at around 10 miles per hour, well below current accepted speeds of 25-30 miles per hour. Such a rate would slow down operations significantly.

The MTA, meanwhile, responded forcefully. As Pete Donohue reported, MTA officials believed the TWU was simply acting, in part, to draw attention to its current contract negotiations. “Any slowdowns in the system which results from this concerted union activity may be considered a job action,” Christopher Johnson, Transit’s V.P. of Labor Relations, said to The Daily News.

In a subsequent statement, the agency elaborated: “Some of the actions the [TWU is] recommending, if implemented, would result in even more hazardous conditions due to overcrowding on platforms and onboard trains. There are other, more effective ways of making the system safer than slowing down train service and we are committed to working towards them.”

Transit officials explained the impact of any potential slowdown to The Wall Street Journal:

Slowing one train on its way into a station has the effect of slowing all the trains behind it in the system, MTA spokesman Charles Seaton said. The backups that would result from requiring every train to slow down significantly at each station would mean fewer train trips every day, Mr. Seaton said, reducing the efficiency of the subway system, which moves about 5 million passengers a day.

And with many subway lines already operating over or near capacity at morning and evening rush hours, reducing the trains’ speed would likely lead to increased crowding on station platforms. That condition already raises safety concerns on the oldest and narrowest station platforms in the system.

“It would certainly make it a lot more difficult to get on board trains, and platforms would be much more crowded,” said Mr. Seaton, who added that MTA officials hadn’t noticed drivers abiding by the slow-down order as of Monday afternoon.

There is no doubt that these train/person accidents create lasting psychological problems for the T/Os. Matt Flegenheimer adroitly profiled those issues in a Times article earlier this week. But these slowdowns are simply unnecessary. There are, as Market Urbanism’s Stephen Smith noted on Twitter, no subway systems in the world that mandate station approaches at such slow speeds, and such a move would negatively impact operations.

So the labor battle continues, as it has for a year. This is the first potential TWU action since Joe Lhota, a leader TWU head John Samuelsen seemingly respected, departed the MTA. It likely won’t be the last until and unless a new contract is in place. And so we wait.

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Service AdvisoriesSubway Maps

Map: FASTRACK hits the Bronx’s IND Concourse line

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 14, 2013

During FASTRACK, the nearby 4 train will provide alternative travel for the IND Concourse Line. (via Second Ave. Sagas on Instagram)

Starting tonight at 10 p.m. and running each night this week until 5 a.m. the next morning, Transit’s FASTRACK program will shut down the D train’s IND Concourse Line in the Bronx. The week’s treatment marks the first outside of Manhattan’s Central Business District and parts of Downtown Brooklyn, and it comes after successful outages last year. It is also the first FASTRACK to return since Sandy.

During this week’s outages, D trains will not run between 161st Street and 205th Street in both directions, and the following changes will be in effect:

  • B service will end early;
  • D service will operate between Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and 161st Street-Yankee Stadium (Note: Downtown D trains will skip 155th Street.);
  • As an alternative, customers should take 4 trains at nearby 4 train stations. A transfer is available between 4 and D trains at 161st Street-Yankee Stadium;
  • Free shuttle buses will provide connecting service between the Norwood-205th Street D and the Mosholu Parkway 4 stations only.

With the 4 train so close to the D train in the Bronx, this is a relatively painless FASTRACK. As Transit said in a statement, “These FASTRACK efforts have been designed around the careful determination that there is adequate alternate means of transportation, including enhanced services along some bus lines during work periods.” Still, the MTA is warning late-night riders to allow up to 20 minutes more for their regular trip times.

The next outer borough FASTRACK arrives next week when the 2 shut downs between Franklin and Flatbush Avenues. For more on the year in FASTRACK, check out my 2013 overview from mid-December.

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AsidesNew York City Transit

Transit mulling platform edge pilot; TWU mulling a slowdown

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 14, 2013

In an ideal world — one where money doesn’t matter and planners could reconstruct the New York City subway from scratch — platform edge doors would be the standard. They protect tracks from debris and people from the tracks and allow for climate controlled stations, among other benefits, but they are also costly and technologically challenging to install in a system short on cash and with non-standardized rolling stock and curved platforms.

With an increased media focus on a few tragic accidents involving trains crushing people to death, politicians have renewed calls for platform edge doors. I’ve long maintained that this is a solution in search of a problem. Accident rates are around 1.5 per 50 million riders, and fatalities are even lower than that. Still, the MTA has had no choice but to listen.

As The Post reports today, the MTA is considering a pilot program for the L train. Platform edge doors would work on this ATO-equipped line with standardized rolling stock, but the MTA warns that a full system roll-out would cost over $1 billion. The agency is also planning on increasing the frequency of PA announcements concerning the dangers of standing too close to the platform edge. More concerning to every day subway operations is a rumor of a TWU missive concerning train speeds upon entering a station. (Train operators suffer tremendous psychological side effects long after these collisions.)

So what should we expect? The MTA will probably explore the idea of an ad-support pilot for some L train stations, but system-wide adoption remains a hazy long-term goal. A true TWU slowdown seems unlikely, but without public action from the MTA on some of the issues surrounding train fatalities, subway speeds could suffer. All of this goes to show how sensational news events don’t always lead to sound policies or public investments.

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Public Transit Policy

A century later, Grand Central still spurs development

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 13, 2013

For some reason or another, the concept of transit-oriented development seems to rankle nerves and raise eyebrows. Outside of the city, at least, in suburban areas where “density” is a bad word, issues surrounding class and race often lead to intense debates over TOD. But within New York City, it’s a fact of life. In fact, the city is one giant transit-oriented development, made possible because of the reach and frequency of our transit network.

After so many decades and years of development, it’s easy to lose sight of how transit has spurred development — both residential and commercial — in New York City, but a new spate of projects serves to remind us of New York’s origins and showcases its future growth. As Grand Central Terminal turns 100 this year, a big dig underneath it will soon usher in over 80,000 new commuters per day to the area, and across town at 34th St. and 11th Ave., a new subway stop will deliver New Yorkers to one of Manhattan’s last truly undeveloped frontiers at the Hudson Yards.

In this week’s Crain’s New York, a big story on Grand Central drives home this point. Daniel Geiger looked at the planned and expected growth around Midtown that stems out of Grand Central and its importance to the city. Opening with the story about the owners of 140 E. 45th St. building out a real entrance that leads to Grand Central on East 44th St., Geiger’s piece highlights the up-building that will soon happen throughout Midtown.

Rockwood’s move is just one of many by which countless landlords and tenants alike are demonstrating that even at the ripe old age of 100, the grand dame of New York’s transit hubs is more central and vital than ever. What’s more, with the planned arrival by 2020 of Long Island Rail Road trains in Grand Central’s sub-basement and the expected rezoning of the surrounding neighborhood to spur development of a whole new generation of bigger, smarter office buildings, the terminal is destined to become only more important.

“When the LIRR link opens, it will bring about 80,000 new commuters per day through the terminal,” said an MTA spokeswoman. Those new faces will add to the roughly 800,000 people—including tourists and, increasingly, shoppers—who will pass through the building each day by the end of the decade.

Similarly, the extension of the 7 subway line—which runs beneath the station out to Manhattan’s newest neighborhood, Hudson Yards, just beginning to rise west of Penn Station—will further knit the terminal into the city’s future growth. In a sort of virtuous circle, it is those beefier transportation links that effectively lay the groundwork for the big new towers, which are expected to add 10 million square feet or more of additional space in the coming decades—the equivalent of more than three Empire State Buildings—and their tens of thousands of additional tenants. They could begin arriving as soon as 2020.

In addition to the increase in office space in the area, the New York City Planning Commission with some prodding by the Regional Plan Association and Municipal Art Society will reassess how the space surrounding Grand Central is utilized as well. Parts of Vanderbilt Ave. may be turned into pedestrian plazas, and the city will consider widening sidewalks along Madison and Lexington Avenues. As midtown occupancy numbers increase, wider sidewalks will become a matter of safety for the tens of thousands of new workers in the area.

So Grand Central — the epicenter of Midtown East — continues to deliver transit-oriented development benefits a century after it first opened its doors. I can’t help but to draw comparisons to the way the city and its politicians treat transit today. It is so clearly the economic driver of the city. People clamor to live near subway stops, and rents increase as commute times decrease. Businesses want to be located closer to train stations, and an increase in commuting capacity is driving a push to rezone Midtown and add density to one of the denser areas in the country.

Still, when it comes to political priorities, transit takes second fiddle to just about anything else. It is a struggle to move rail projects forward, and future funding is up in the air. We look for tiny incremental improvements rather than transformative initiatives that could easily see the light of day with a political champion and some progressive funding. Let the Grand Central Terminal be a reminder of what transit development in New York City can do and what it still does. It’s a powerful driver indeed.

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Service Advisories

No pants, work on 13 subway lines mark the weekend

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 12, 2013

It’s that time of year again, the time when a bunch of youngsters — and some oldsters — descend upon the subway without their pants on. Once upon a time, I participated in Improv Everywhere’s No Pants Subway Ride, but I’m over it. It was funny when it was a surprise, but now that it’s a Thing We Expect, the novelty has worn off. Plus, it’s flu season. Keep your pants on.

Anyway, if a little risque action is your thing, check out the info at Improv Everywhere’s website. Even as I’ve become more curmudgeonly about the whole thing, it is pretty funny to see those few unsuspecting straphangers react with amused confusion when a bunch of folks in underwear board the train. For those who want to avoid it, stay away from Union Square between 3 and 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Meanwhile, there are a bunch of other service changes. If you’re feeling generous, please try to go Long Island City this weekend. There’s no 7 service, and the G is running in two sections and every 20 minutes. There are a bunch of good businesses out there — including a really good beer bar — that need the support.


From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 9 p.m. Sunday, January 13, Rector Street-bound 1 trains skip 238th Street, 231st Street and 225th Street due to track panel installation north of 231st Street.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, 242nd Street-bound 1 trains skip Dyckman Street due to floor tile installation at Dyckman Street.


From 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, January 12 and Sunday, January 13, the last stop for some uptown 1 trains is 137th Street due to track panel installation north of 231st Street.


From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 10 p.m. Sunday, January 13, 2 service operates in two sections due to track panel installation north of Bronx Park East:

  • Between Flatbush Avenue and East 180th Street*
  • Between East 180th Street and 241st Street

Customers may transfer between trains at East 180th Street.

*2 trains are rerouted to Dyre Avenue at East 180th Street during this time.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, there are no 3 trains between Franklin Avenue and New Lots Avenue due to switch replacement at Utica Avenue.

  • 3 service operates between 148th Street and Franklin Avenue and via the 2 line between Franklin Avenue and Flatbush Avenue.
  • Free shuttle buses operate in two segments between Franklin Avenue and New Lots Avenue:
    1. Local between Franklin Avenue and Sutter Avenue.
    2. Non-stop between Franklin Avenue and Sutter Avenue and local between Sutter Avenue and New Lots Avenue.

Customers may transfer between trains and free shuttle buses at Franklin Avenue.

Note: From 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m., the 3 operates between 148th Street and Times Square-42nd Street only.


From 11:30 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, there are no 4 trains between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and New Lots Avenue due to switch replacement at Utica Avenue.

  • 4 service operates between Woodlawn and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center. Take 2 or 3 trains between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and Franklin Avenue.
  • Free shuttle buses operate in two segments between Franklin Avenue and New Lots Avenue:
    1. Local between Franklin Avenue and Sutter Avenue.
    2. Non-stop between Franklin Avenue and Sutter Avenue and local between Sutter Avenue and New Lots Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, 4 trains operate local in both directions between 125th Street and Grand Central-42nd Street stations due to signal work between 42nd Street-Grand Central and 59th Street and track work near 86th Street.


From 3:45 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 10 p.m. Sunday, January 13, 5 service is suspended due to signal work between 42nd Street and 59th Street and track work near 86th Street. Customers should take the 2 and/or 4 train instead.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14 (and the next 10 weekends), there is no 7 train service between Times Square-42nd Street and Queensboro Plaza due to Flushing Line CBTC. Customers may take the E, N, Q and S (42nd Street shuttle) and free shuttle buses as alternatives.

  • Use the E, N or Q* between Manhattan and Queens
  • Free shuttle buses operate between Vernon Blvd-Jackson Avenue and Queensboro Plaza
  • In Manhattan, the 42nd Street S Shuttle operates overnight

*Q service is extended to Ditmars Blvd. (See Q entry for hours of operation.)


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 6 a.m. Saturday, January 12, from 11:45 p.m. Saturday, January 12 to 6 a.m. Sunday, January 13 and from 11:45 p.m. Sunday, January 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, Manhattan-bound A trains skip Rockaway Avenue and Ralph Avenue due to platform area rehab at Utica Avenue.


From 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, January 12 and Sunday, January 13, Manhattan-bound C trains skip Rockaway Avenue and Ralph Avenue due to platform area rehab at Utica Avenue.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14 , Coney Island-bound F trains run express from Jay Street-MetroTech to Church Avenue due to work on the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation and the Church Avenue Interlocking.


From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, January 12 and Sunday, January 13, Brooklyn-bound F trains skip Avenue U and Avenue X due to platform edge survey south of Kings Highway.


From 11:45 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, there are no G trains between Church Avenue and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts due to work on the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation and the Church Avenue Interlocking. Customers should take the F instead.

  • For F service, customers may take the A or C between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. and Jay Street-MetroTech.
  • G service operates in two sections: 1. Between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Aves and 2. Between Bedford-Nostrand Aves and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. (every 20 minutes).


From 12:45 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, J service operates in two sections due to escalator replacement at Bowery station:

  1. Between Jamaica Center and Delancey-Essex Sts.
  2. Between Delancey-Essex Sts and Chambers Street, (every 20 minutes).


From 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, January 12 and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, January 13, Q trains are extended to Ditmars Blvd. in order to augment service between Manhattan and Queens.


From 11 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, Brooklyn-bound Q trains run local from 34th Street-Herald Square to Canal Street due to electrical work at 14th Street-Union Square.

(42nd Street Shuttle)
From 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday, January 12, Sunday, January 13 and Monday, January 14, 42nd Street S shuttle operates overnight due to weekend work on the 7 line.

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AsidesRolling Stock

In Latin America, the everyday Nostalgia Train hangs it up

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 11, 2013

Every year for special occasions — baseball playoffs, the holiday season — the MTA dusts off its old rolling stock and sends the Nostalgia Train out for a ride. It’s quite a trip to journey on these subway cars, some as old as 100 years, with their wicker seats, ceiling fans and deafeningly loud clanking. But what if these trains ran everyday? The charm would wear off pretty quickly.

Well, down in Argentina, the Subte sill runs original 1913 rolling stock on its A line, but those cars are set to be retired today, finally. These 90 Belgian-made cars still carry over 150,000 passengers a day, but Subte and Buenos Aires officials have finally decided that these trains cost too much to maintain and repair. Somehow, though, the decision is not without controversy as Buenos Aires politicians have called upon Subte to keep the cars rolling past the Underground’s 100th anniversary. And to think New Yorkers complain about the R32s still in service on the C train.

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MBTA

On riding the subways amidst a flu pandemic

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on January 11, 2013

In Boston, the MBTA is reminding its customers of the dangers of flu season. (Via @mbtaGM on Twitter)

A few days ago, I was taking my usual 2 or 3 train ride to work from Brooklyn when I heard a sound emerging from one end of the subway car. It wasn’t an unnatural sound, but it was a deep, hacking sound — one that caused me to raise an eyebrow. A man, you see, was in the process of coughing up a lung or two, and he just couldn’t stop. A few passengers exchanged those knowing looks that said, “I hope this guy doesn’t have anything serious,” and we all breathed a sigh of relief when he exited the train at Wall Street.

For germaphobes, riding the subway can be a truly traumatic experience. Despite their best efforts, straphangers just aren’t clean, and subway cars aren’t tidied up more often than once every few hours if that. They aren’t sterilized or sanitized in such a way that would bring comfort to many, and with millions of riders carrying who knows what in and out of the system, the subways would spread an epidemic just as fast as they deliver us from Rego Park to Midtown. For the rest of us, we cast wary eyes upon sick passengers and try to remember to wash our hands after getting out.

Lately, although I fall into the latter category, I’ve found myself paying a bit more attention to what I touch in the subways and the people around me. It’s hard not to when tales of a flu epidemic are splashed across the front pages of our newspapers. So far, Manhattan hasn’t seen the worst of the viruses spreading across the area. Rather, Philadelphia and Boston have gotten it much worse, but it seems to be only a matter of time.

In Boston, the MBTA has started taking steps to protect its riders. BostInno’s Steve Annear has a report:

To help combat the sickness spreading, MBTA managers met with SJ Services, the contractor responsible for cleaning subway cars, and directed workers to pay extra close attention to changing out the water used for cleaning as frequently as possible, and to not re-use rags. “Transportation managers have also stressed that the cleaners always use latex gloves and focus particularly on grab bars and hand straps,” according to T Spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

Pesaturo said the MBTA also has plans to play public service announcements through the loud speakers on the subway and display messages on digital boards, reminding riders to wash their hands often with soap and water and cover their nose and mouth when sneezing.

But even with all these precautions in place, experts say it’s easy to contract the flu when clustered with congested or coughing passengers. According to the Center for Disease Control, people can catch the flu from just six-feet away. “Most experts think that flu viruses are spread mainly by droplets made when people with the flu cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs,” according to health officials from the CDC. “Less often, a person might also get the flu by touching a surface or object that has flu virus on it and then touching their own mouth or nose.”

That’s enough to drive even those among us with the hardiest immune systems into a pandemic-inspired frenzy. But that’s always the risk we take when traveling by public transit. It’s only as clean as we make it and allow it to be.

So far, the MTA hasn’t taken any public steps to combat the spread of disease underground, but it could as conditions worsen. In the meantime, we can do each other some favors. Staying home while sick and washing up at a destination are the best approaches. The subways can spread a virus in the blink of an eye, and no one really wants to get sick.

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