New York MTA Introduces iOS App with Real-Time Subway Arrival Info

[JangoFett124]

Originally Posted by ingramLee

This is useless!! We dont have service on most subway platforms!!!

On subway platforms that support this, they have boards that display this information anyway. This is for when you're walking to the subway, so you know if you need to rush, take a cab instead, etc.

[Eraserhead]

Originally Posted by kas23

OK, now we need about 200 more of these apps to cover the majority of the subway times' for major cities.

The tube in London (which first opened in 1863) has had real time app updates for years. And it has had real time updates on the platforms for as long as I can remember.

There is no excuse for New York being this slow for something this basic.

[huntermaclean]

Originally Posted by miknos

Or they could have some digital clock in every station so passengers could see when the train is coming.

This.
I live in Hong Kong and I know exactly where to look when I walk up to the platform to find out when the next train will be there. Much easier than pulling out my phone to check.

[akatsuki]

Originally Posted by Eraserhead

The tube in London (which first opened in 1863) has had real time app updates for years. And it has had real time updates on the platforms for as long as I can remember.

There is no excuse for New York being this slow for something this basic.

How much is a ride in London? It is $2.50 in NY.

[KPOM]

Originally Posted by DaveTheRave

The MTA is a state agency. The mayor of New York has limited influence at best. He gets to nominate a few board members but the majority are appointed by the Govenor of NY. This is part of the eternal battle of upstate/downstate politics, and even downstate there are conflicts with other divisions of the agency like the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad which serve the counties outside of NYC for passengers on commuter rail.

Exactly. That said, my experience is that people outside the US (and I don't know if that's the case with the poster to whom you responded) don't quite "get" the distinction between local, state, and federal governments here. In London, for instance, the elected mayor doesn't do much except run the transit system (a lot of other things done by mayors here, such as overseeing police, are handled at the national level).

That said, to the poster's point, the MTA isn't held in particularly high regard here in NYC, though to their credit they did an excellent job responding to Hurricane Sandy. To be fair, they are in a bit of a tough position. Only about half their budget is covered through fares. Most of the rest is through a 0.50% sales tax surcharge in NYC and the surrounding areas. They haven't received enough funding for capital projects as they'd like, and even in a city with $30/day parking would still face a near-riot if they raised fares much beyond the $2.25 per trip they charge now, so they have lagged behind other systems such as London or the BART.

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Originally Posted by akatsuki

How much is a ride in London? It is $2.50 in NY.

$2.25, actually.

From my recollection it is £2 which is about $3.30. That said, London had the displays with the time to the next train 10 years ago when I lived there. NYC is just getting them now. On the other hand, they still haven't figured out a way to add air conditioning to the trains. It can be downright miserable to take the Tube in the summer.

London leased out most of their lines to private operators in long term deals in the late 1990s, which provided a source of funding for capital improvement. The MTA is still dependent entirely on fares and tax dollars, so is somewhat at a disadvantage in that regard.

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Originally Posted by Eraserhead

The tube in London (which first opened in 1863) has had real time app updates for years. And it has had real time updates on the platforms for as long as I can remember.

There is no excuse for New York being this slow for something this basic.

The MTA has air conditioned trains. The Tube does not. It would be illegal under EU directives to transport farm animals in conditions like the London Underground during summer.

[Eraserhead]

Originally Posted by KPOM

The MTA has air conditioned trains. The Tube does not. It would be illegal under EU directives to transport farm animals in conditions like the London Underground during summer.

It is much warmer in New York in the summer than London . And you'd literally have to re-dig the tunnels on the tube parts of the tube to add air conditioning with current technology.

[KPOM]

Originally Posted by Eraserhead

It is much warmer in New York in the summer than London . And you'd literally have to re-dig the tunnels on the tube parts of the tube to add air conditioning with current technology.

I lived in London for 2 years. It can get pretty darn hot down in the Tube since it is so far down the air doesn't circulate well.

Likewise on the MTA, adding the necessary electronic equipment requires replacing lots of infrastructure. Given everything else they are doing (building a new line, expanding another, preparing for the next Sandy, renovating aging stations), this is understandably in their second tier of priority.

[curmudgeon32]

Originally Posted by ajje1

can't get anything right, a holes

Trains were running mere days after the hurricane. I'd like to see you do better.

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Originally Posted by brianbobcat

Chicago's CTA implemented almost real-time train tracking essentially for free by reading the data from their current signals as trains cross them, and combining that with data collected from previous trains to give a very close approximation on arrival time. Just another reason I like Chicago 1000x better than NY. Enjoy your 33% coverage, that sounds like AT&T's slogan.

NYC's subway system runs 24/7 and is orders of magnitude larger and more complex than Chicago's. So yeah, I guess it would be pretty easy to get it done there. And do get in touch when your system accomodates even 10% as many riders as the ours.

[thefourthpope]

Excellent! Many of these lines have stations with times posted outside the turnstiles, but not all of them. And even for those, this lets you know if it's worth heading to the subway.
Too bad the A B C D lines don't have this; I'm always left waiting for those.

[Phrygian]

Originally Posted by TechZeke

This is perfect for NYC since it's subway is almost as variable as local bus service.

You have no idea what you are talking about.

And while i will be trying this app out, and appreciate the initiative of the MTA in helping individuals and companies create MTA apps, you people really don't seem to get just how FREAKING OLD the NYC subway system is, and that fact that it runs 24/7! Not to mention how ENORMOUS our subway system is compared to other cities, and the huge number of riders every day.

Not to mention that there are tracks not even being used anymore, industrial tracks, and secret tracks for government officials, one of which is public at this point, and another newer one which is purely rumor.

[Lil Chillbil]

That would be great If I lived in New York