As a New Yorker born and raised, and someone who's spent the bulk of his life in this City, I often feel like I've grown immune to the colossal blunders the MTA can make. I start thinking that I've seen every kind of stupid they can possibly be, and nothing at all would surprise me anymore. Then, they go and do something like this, and I find out just how wrong I am.
Finally, after years of waste, mismanagement, and delays, the program to install electronic arrival-time signage in stations along the Lexington Ave line (The 4, 5, and 6 trains) is fully underway. The signs -- which display the number of minutes until the next train arrives, as well its designation (4 vs. 6, local vs. express) and information on several future trains -- are operational at most of the local stops in the Bronx and Manhattan. (I haven't been to Brooklyn in years, so I don't know the current status at stations in that boro. The express stops are not yet online, which is annoying, but the signs are physically in place and should be working "soon".)
All in all, I like the new signs. Late at night, especially, they allow me to sit on the station bench, relax, and read or do whatever I wish, while knowing exactly how much time I have until the train will be pulling up to the platform. No more peering over the platform edge hoping to see lights down the tunnel, in order to know when the train's near. I've also changed my travel plans based on the arrival-time information, opting to run up to a nearby bodega, or walk to the next station down the line. At most stops, since there's an arrival board just inside the turnstiles, you can check this information before swiping your MetroCard.
But then we have 138 St. - 3 Av, my home stop on the #6 line. Arrival-time signage was installed there, and is fully functional. Here are some photos showing the new signs. First, on the track level, the platforms are fully covered by double-sided signs like this one, visible from almost anywhere you're standing (except for a some staircase-obstructed areas at the platform ends):
Since the 138 St - 3 Av entrance & booth "straddles" the platforms, allowing access to trains in both directions from a single set of turnstiles, there's just a single waiting area on the upper level. The MTA also installed a new sign there, so that people waiting upstairs know when they need to head down to the track level. I snapped the photo at a bad time, but you can see the new sign (displaying an NYPD safety notice) as it looks from the waiting area inside the turnstiles:
And now, here's the same view from the other side, which is what you'd see after you'd just walked through the turnstiles, or if you were in the token booth area preparing to enter the system:
...This actually makes me physically angry every time I pass it on my way to the platform.
It's incomprehensible to me that they can be spending millions of dollars on this new system, years behind schedule, and then find a way to implement it (at least in my station) in such a way that actually robs it of any practical usefulness! The new signs are great, and they make the station- or platform-wait much more convenient, but they're not particularly useful once you're already in the system. It's not like you can make a lot of decisions about your travel planning. You're stuck there, and knowing how long you have until the next train arrives is at best a peace-of-mind convenience.
The only time the signs are useful, in terms of travel planning, is before you've swiped your MetroCard. (In fact, to provide the most utility, these signs should also be at street level -- but that's another argument. It may even be part of phase 2 or 3 of the overall project, which would be great. I don't know.)
Before you've paid your fare and crossed the turnstiles, you could make decisions based on the time available. Change your route, perhaps, or simply make a quick stop first -- hopefully, if you time it right, without missing your train. You could do all those things at 138 St. - 3 Av, that is... if the MTA hadn't decided to install all of the signs so that they're only visible from inside the subway system!
Heroically stupid. Congratulations, MTA -- you've managed to surprise me once again.
-FeRD
Finally, after years of waste, mismanagement, and delays, the program to install electronic arrival-time signage in stations along the Lexington Ave line (The 4, 5, and 6 trains) is fully underway. The signs -- which display the number of minutes until the next train arrives, as well its designation (4 vs. 6, local vs. express) and information on several future trains -- are operational at most of the local stops in the Bronx and Manhattan. (I haven't been to Brooklyn in years, so I don't know the current status at stations in that boro. The express stops are not yet online, which is annoying, but the signs are physically in place and should be working "soon".)
All in all, I like the new signs. Late at night, especially, they allow me to sit on the station bench, relax, and read or do whatever I wish, while knowing exactly how much time I have until the train will be pulling up to the platform. No more peering over the platform edge hoping to see lights down the tunnel, in order to know when the train's near. I've also changed my travel plans based on the arrival-time information, opting to run up to a nearby bodega, or walk to the next station down the line. At most stops, since there's an arrival board just inside the turnstiles, you can check this information before swiping your MetroCard.
But then we have 138 St. - 3 Av, my home stop on the #6 line. Arrival-time signage was installed there, and is fully functional. Here are some photos showing the new signs. First, on the track level, the platforms are fully covered by double-sided signs like this one, visible from almost anywhere you're standing (except for a some staircase-obstructed areas at the platform ends):
Since the 138 St - 3 Av entrance & booth "straddles" the platforms, allowing access to trains in both directions from a single set of turnstiles, there's just a single waiting area on the upper level. The MTA also installed a new sign there, so that people waiting upstairs know when they need to head down to the track level. I snapped the photo at a bad time, but you can see the new sign (displaying an NYPD safety notice) as it looks from the waiting area inside the turnstiles:
And now, here's the same view from the other side, which is what you'd see after you'd just walked through the turnstiles, or if you were in the token booth area preparing to enter the system:
...This actually makes me physically angry every time I pass it on my way to the platform.
It's incomprehensible to me that they can be spending millions of dollars on this new system, years behind schedule, and then find a way to implement it (at least in my station) in such a way that actually robs it of any practical usefulness! The new signs are great, and they make the station- or platform-wait much more convenient, but they're not particularly useful once you're already in the system. It's not like you can make a lot of decisions about your travel planning. You're stuck there, and knowing how long you have until the next train arrives is at best a peace-of-mind convenience.
The only time the signs are useful, in terms of travel planning, is before you've swiped your MetroCard. (In fact, to provide the most utility, these signs should also be at street level -- but that's another argument. It may even be part of phase 2 or 3 of the overall project, which would be great. I don't know.)
Before you've paid your fare and crossed the turnstiles, you could make decisions based on the time available. Change your route, perhaps, or simply make a quick stop first -- hopefully, if you time it right, without missing your train. You could do all those things at 138 St. - 3 Av, that is... if the MTA hadn't decided to install all of the signs so that they're only visible from inside the subway system!
Heroically stupid. Congratulations, MTA -- you've managed to surprise me once again.
-FeRD
