MTA NYC Transit to bring countdown clocks to lettered subway lines

A and C Line customers headed downtown from six stations in Washington Heights and Harlem will benefit from a new pilot project testing the delivery of next train arrival information similar to that now in service along the L line and recently deployed in several Bronx stations on the 6.

While plans are in place
to activate customer information signs at all of the stations on the numbered
subway lines by next year, the same technology does not exist on the lettered
lines, requiring innovative solutions to provide the same information to
customers. The Public Address/Customer Information Screen pilot in operation
along a northern segment of the Eighth Avenue Line utilizes previously
installed electronic signs in four stations, tying them in with existing infrastructure.
This method eliminates the need for major capital construction and related
service disruptions while allowing it to be up and running as quickly as
possible. The initial phase of the pilot will provide next train arrival
information at 181st, 175th, 168th, 163rd, 155th, and 145th Street Stations.
While audio announcements will be available at all six stations, Customer
Information Screens will be up and running at the four southernmost stations
only.

"This is another
part of the initiative to offer real-time train arrival information to our
customers, but here we are going about it in a different manner using existing
infrastructure rather than waiting for the installation of an entirely new
communications system," said NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast.
"We looked at the equipment that was already in place and we have designed
a pilot that responds to MTA Chairman Jay Walder’s call to find affordable ways
to make customer improvements as quickly as possible."

Unlike the more advanced
system currently being turned on along the numbered lines which receives its
information from the scheduled data provided by Automatic Train Supervision,
this simpler system identifies train location using the signal system’s track
circuits and sending this information to existing equipment. Due to the
limitations of the information transmitted by the signal track circuits, the
demonstration pilot will provide information on train movement on a specific
track only and cannot identify specific trains as the ATS system is able to do.

In stations equipped with
screens, the information will transmit how many stations away the train is
along with the estimated length of time to arrive. For example: "Train 2
stations away. Approximately 2 minutes." Information for the express track
begins being transmitted to stations downtown as the train approaches 181st
Street. Local track information transmission begins at 168th Street.

If this first pilot is
successful and well-received, the agency will look to implement it at other
stations on the lettered lines. Additionally, other pilots that will test
different technology options are currently being investigated.