James Somers wanted to find out why the New York subway's F train still doesn't have countdown clocks to tell you when the next train is arriving. He never expected it to be so complicated.
The New York subway signaling system was one of the earliest attempts to automate a large, complex and chaotic mechanism. It was designed to keep the trains running while making collisions impossible - and it did a pretty good job of that, considering the technology that was available at the time. When it was built in the early part of the 20th century, it was the state of the art - the problem is, much of that system hasn't been updated since then. In the case of the F train, there are no countdown clocks at the station because literally nobody has clear knowledge of the train's position besides the people on the train. (Many other lines do have the clocks.)
Somers' lengthy article examines the nuts and bolts of the signaling system, and also tries to figure out why it's taking so long to bring it up to date - a combination of politics, bureaucracy, and a need to support legacy technology while transporting 5 million people a day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @01:30PM
You spend how many millions on a subway, and try to save a few pennies on not having clocks at each station...
(Score: 5, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Saturday November 14 2015, @01:39PM
Nothing costs mere pennies with the MTA. If they can't spend an order of magnitude than it should cost, it's not worth doing for them because there won't be enough to grease all the palms that need to be greased.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday November 14 2015, @11:57PM
My belief is that nearly any Arduino hobbyist should have the ability to build these....
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]