First Robo-Train Starts Running in NYC Subway
MTA posts
Cell Phones, Computers, BlackBerry, E-Mail Addiction
NYC Hopes to Launch Subway Text Message Alert System
The New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is looking for a vendor to put together what may end up being the largest text message and e-mail alert system in the country. The MTA said that, following massive flooding of the NYC subway tunnels on August 8th, the need for such a system became clear. The alerts will inform passengers about construction, train re-routing, and unplanned disruptions such as those from fire and flooding. The system is expected to draw up to a million subscribers.
Commuter rail lines, such as Metro North, have an alert system, but it can take as much as an hour for the messages to be sent out. The MTA plans to fold the commuter lines into the new system which they say will be much more timely.
Currently, subway passengers can subscribe to an e-mail list for planned disruptions, but are forced to rely on announcements made over station and train PA systems for up-to-the-minute updates regarding unexpected interruptions. As any subway passenger knows, such announcement are usually completely incomprehensible.
From Textually.org
Related links:
Cell Phones in Subways: Not For 911
Last month, we reported that New York City's subway system was being wired to bring cell phone reception to its subterranean stations. Besides bringing the conveniences of e-mail and voice to this otherwise uncharted territory, many New Yorkers felt a sense of relief that emergency calls from underground would now be possible. However, it seems that's not exactly what the Metropolitan Transit Authority had in mind with last month's announcement. In fact, by the sounds of recent statements made by the MTA, an emergency is the last time it would want people to reach for their mobiles.
MTA officials have indicated that during an emergency, all travelers should give their undivided attention to MTA employees -- not to their handsets. Additionally, the MTA fears that hundreds of panicked travelers simultaneously calling 911 to report the same emergency could flood phone lines unnecessarily if the emergency has already been reported. We saw similar outages occur during Hurricane Katrina and the Minneapolis bridge collapse, so this concern isn't completely without merit.
Another concern raised by the MTA about cell phones in stations is much more ominous. According to MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin speaking to the Daily News, a cell phone may serve as an "accidental detonator during such an [emergency] incident." Though Soffin, somewhat oddly, doesn't elaborate on this statement, he seems to be suggesting that during an underground emergency, a flurry of cell phone activity could potentially set off a device that just happens to be there waiting to go off, but has nothing to do with the current emergency.
Are we then to believe that there are any number of explosive devices out there in New York's underground that the MTA doesn't know about?
From textually.org and Daily News
Related Links:
NYC Subway Stations Wired for Cell Phones
The cell phone is a powerful tool when you're trying to meet up with friends somewhere, especially if they're the bar-hopping type who don't stay at any one place on a Friday night any longer than it takes to down a pint. But, in New York City, you can forget about staying in touch with friends if you're traveling by subway -- the city's biggest cell-phone dead zone. Thankfully, that's finally about to change with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority working to install underground cell phone systems in its stations.
A company called Transit Wireless has pledged $4.6 million per year for each of the next ten years for the privilege of bringing connections to MTA stations. The company will then turn around and sell that access to individual cell providers like AT&T and Sprint. Since all providers will be able to share the same Transit Wireless services, there's no reason not to expect the same level of underground coverage no matter what carrier you're on. Unfortunately, your carrier might not be interested in paying whatever Transit Wireless charges. When asked how much it would invest to bring cell phone coverage to subway stations, a consortium of carriers including Verizon and Sprint offered the MTA a mere $40 compared to Transit Wireless's $46 million. Yes, $40.
The first six stations, all based in downtown Manhattan, will get cell service some time in the next two years, with additional stations getting connected once all the kinks are worked out. And, if you were worried about having to listen to dozens of bits of communication during your morning commute, fear not, because signal will not be extended to the tunnels, only the stations. Not that you can hear anything but your iPod anyway ...
From Engadget and textually.org
Related Links:
_thumbnail.jpg "Vintage Keyboards")
