Hey, there! Log in / Register
MBTA installs electronic signs on the Riverside line that do absolutely nothing
By adamg on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 9:19am
No, that's not quite true, Paul Levy reports: They do warn you that fare evasion is a crime so you better pay your damn fare:
I have to give the MBTA something for truth in advertising. It describes this capital improvement project (or one like it) as follows: This project will install new LED information signs on the platforms and lobbies of busy subway stations. These signs will provide visual equivalent of audio information on train arrival times and destination information.
In that sense, the signs are the visual equivalent of the public address system on this line, which for years has also failed to give audio information about delays or train arrivals.
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Electronic Signs & T kiosks at South Station
Now that you are talking about the electronic signs... Workers were installing them at the trolley level at Government Center. The ones at Fields Corner were NOT working but no workers seen within 120 miles.
I was at South Station on Sunday and observed the MBTA kiosks sitting there DEAD. You could access the MBTA homepage but the "Contact" button was disabled. I wonder why?? How much $$$ was wasted on these worthless gems??
I think the LED platform signs are great.
The ones in Davis were just turned on and it's great to have all those clocks around. Now you can know, at a glance and to the minute, just exactly how late you are.
Which clocks?
This morning at Davis half were set to Daylight Savings Time and half were not. It's baffling that these aren't setup consistently.
Not that I know the real
Not that I know the real reason, but it's not so hard to come up with a few theories.
Feel free to add your own.
ADA
All of these measures are to bring the T into compliance with the Americans with Dissabilities Act. Its not a waste of money. Its being done to avoid sanctions/fines that could be applied if the T remains non-compliant. Also the reason for all the new elevators, etc. on the Green Line. Living with an old transit system is tough. Deal with it.
Item 50 from the MBTA's
Item 50 from the MBTA's Consent Decree/Settlement Agreement with the Boston Center for Independent Living
http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Riding_the_T/Acc...
50. The VMS equipment being installed in MBTA stations shall display visual announcements similar in content and clarity to auditory announcements where public address systems exist or are installed in the future, shall be installed on train platforms so that, to the maximum extent feasible, messages are displayed perpendicular to the right of way or not blocked by objects or vehicles, and equipment displaying next train information in station lobbies shall be located in prominent locations visible to all riders as they reach or pass through fare gates. The MBTA will replace existing systems to meet the above requirements.
But isn't essentially just a
But isn't essentially just a union works project if the T installs devices that add no value at all? (The noise-polluting, two-minute infomercials to, "pay your fare," immediately followed by, "take the T to the Pats game," immediately followed by, "see something/try to call us––even though we won't pick up the phone" are pointless intrusions on an already miserable experience.)
If demonstrating the existence of the device (not if it works or not) is the threshold here, then golf claps all around.
FWIW, I don't mind a works project, it was an important part of FDR's legacy. Let's just call it that, could we please?
It seems to me that spending money to operate and maintain
trains and buses to proper levels would do far more good in providing disabled individuals access to efficient and frequent transportation than insuring compliance with some ADA requirement (however well intentioned that requirement may be) so these people can see and hear the endless barrage of "nanny" and "self-promotional" announcements the T churns out does.
Just one more reason I don't take much stock in the "crying poverty" excuse the T always dredges up when they don't want to do something that would actually improve service.
Re-think the second idea there.
You raise a valid point in your first paragraph, but it falls apart in the second. The 'T has no choice about ADA compliance. You are right that it is expensive, extremely so on a per passenger served basis. Like you, I would like to see more flexibility around how some of this money is spent since better service probably enhances the transit experience for a hearing impaired passenger more than these signs, for example. But the law as written does not allow for that, so the 'T is spending money on signs and elevators rather than maintenance and operations. Just don't blame the 'T, which is, in fact, very close to bankrupt for a variety of reasons caused by external factors.
It is not just the ADA law
It is not just the ADA law itself requiring these installations, but also a very specific list of items that are required under the agreement with the BCIL (of which these signs are item #50)
I am hard of hearing...
...and while I am really thrilled that these signs (and the potential to understand announcements) exist, I had a disappointing experience with the one on the outbound platform at Reservoir a couple of weeks ago. Basically, it did in fact display all the information that (I assume) was given over a loudspeaker announcement, but it did so at a lightning-speed pace, to the point where there was no way anyone could keep up and actually, um, read the text. Not even I could, and I'm a speed-reading PhD student.
I assumed that the text was timed to coincide with what was being spoken, and that the announcement itself was really fast, but that was not the case -- the announcement kept going for about 30 seconds after the last portion of the sign text had appeared. Sigh.
Clocks?
The ones on the commuter rail lines never display the time. They also have the really bad habit of referring to train numbers rather than scheduled arrivals ... which they could easily do for each station.
The signs at commuter rail stations used to display
the time and date. The problem was that the time and date was contained only in the local sign controller and was never syncronized with a master clock.
So not only would different stations have different times, but if the sign controller lost power, the clock would reset to an initial time/date that bore no relation to the actual time or date. The board at Wakefield Station often displayed "2:15 AM July 30, 1995" (at one point for over two weeks straight) because of this glitch.
Eventually, the T decided it was easier to remove the time/date from the displays than sending people out to reprogram the signs on a regular basis. This also had the added benefit (to the T) that they could put even nore annoying "nanny" messages on the boards.
ADA compliance only?
I thought these signs were ultimately supposed to display that magical information that we have all be longing for these many years....
"Next train in ___ minutes." Please, please don't ruin my Friday by telling me that is not one of their primary purposes.
By the way, so far as I can tell, there has been no increase in people paying their "damn fare" (quotes used to emphasize agreement, not to mock), because there has been no increase in enforcement on the Riverside branch.
One would hope that
One would hope that eventually, these signs will shows x minutes until the next train. The silver line countdowns have worked for over a year, I dont understand why the d line couldnt have it as well
The Silver Line buses are
The Silver Line buses are equipeed with GPS devices that feed the location information into the announcement/countdown system.
The Green Line just has a few vehicle location sensors located at long intervals along its routes, much less robust data is available even for MBTA dispatchers for real-time Green Line car location information. There is no real ability yet with the present equipment to install a count-down system for the Green Line without also installing a better AVL system. I think that's in there capital budget wish list, but is not a funded item.