> Having full-time software experts running the show turned out to be crucial. Previous incarnations of the project didn’t have a technical leader at the MTA—just old-school senior managers who would try to wrangle the contractors by force of will. The new in-house team, by contrast, was qualified to define exactly what they wanted from software providers in terms those providers could understand. They were qualified to evaluate progress. They could sniff out problems early.<p>I think this is the most important topic in this article. Government projects cost so much and take so long because there is always a disconnect between the institution paying for the work and the institution doing the work. One can’t reliably measure the other’s capabilities and knowledge and so it becomes a murky relationship (one that is also easily exploited by persons on both sides willing to make their paychecks fatter).
The countdown clocks have been be implemented more than 2 years after the OP article came out: "After 11 years, every NYC subway station finally has countdown clocks"<p><a href="https://ny.curbed.com/2018/1/2/16840622/mta-nyc-subway-countdown-clock-installation-finished" rel="nofollow">https://ny.curbed.com/2018/1/2/16840622/mta-nyc-subway-count...</a><p>The OP article is still relevant for understanding the dysfunctions of the MTA.
>You want fewer delays? You want realtime countdown clocks? CBTC is the answer<p>What crap. For nearly 100 years the subway has been just fine, and after 10-15 years of corruption and mismanagement we're expected to believe the only solution is a multi-billion dollar upgrade with technology that didnt even exist the last time the system was functioning properly?<p>I dont think lack of computer controlled trains is the problem here:<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/09/nyregion/subway-crisis-mta-decisions-signals-rules.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/09/nyregion/subw...</a><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/nyregion/new-york-subway-system-failure-delays.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/nyregion/new-york-subway-...</a><p>>Signal problems and car equipment failures occur twice as frequently as a decade ago, but hundreds of mechanic positions have been cut because there is not enough money to pay them — even though the average total compensation for subway managers has grown to well over $200,000 a year.<p>Daily ridership has nearly doubled in the past two decades to 5.7 million, but New York is the only major city in the world with fewer miles of track than it had during World War II. Efforts to add new lines have been hampered by generous agreements with labor unions and private contractors that have inflated construction costs to five times the international average.<p>New York’s subway now has the worst on-time performance of any major rapid transit system in the world, according to data collected from the 20 biggest. Just 65 percent of weekday trains reach their destinations on time
"They even put out a video that gleefully shows off the worst stuff. Look at how broken it is! Look at how old!"<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjx3S3UjmnA" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjx3S3UjmnA</a><p>Well made video that helps understand the interlocks - if you like antique systems!
The countdown clocks really show the distance to the train, not the time it will take to arrive (it's more correct that it shows estimated time). I.e. it can be stuck at 5 min for 15 minutes. It would make more sense to actually show that distance in addition to the ETA.
Why hasn’t some kid with a couple Raspberry Pies and a laser and sensor guerillaed up how to sense when the train is X distance from some stop and heading this way - with some mailing list of people to text when the train approaches?
I grew up in NYC back when a normal family could live in Manhattan. I always wondered why they didn't suspend service between midnight and 5AM on weekdays for scheduled maintenance. Move half the maintenance people to midnight shift so avoid all the overtime they pay now.<p>Not mentioned in the article is that the NYC subway system is controlled by Albany, not NYC.
I used to take the F train into the city every day for 2 years back when I lived in NY. That ride is something I miss very much... such peaceful downtime before wifi and all that.
Discussed at the time: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10566776" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10566776</a>
We don't need countdown clocks, we need door-to-door commutes at 200kph with no stops or train changes. The Boring Company should be able to drill around and under.<p>The Subway is like something from a bygone era:<p>> All track on the New York subway (and on most American rail) is broken into sections, here about 1,000 feet long. An electric current is constantly running in a loop through each section. When a train enters a section, it short-circuits the loop, which allows the system to know that the section is occupied. The signals behind it automatically turn red.<p>> Fixed-block signaling systems, in use since the late 1800s, keep trains from getting too close to one another. The neat thing about subway signals, as opposed to the ones you find on the road, is that they actually force you to stop. When a signal is red, a footlong metal T called (appropriately) a “train stop” protrudes above the track; each train car has a corresponding “trip cock” on its wheel frame connected to the emergency brakes. If you were to drive by a stop signal the train stop would hit the trip cock and you’d screech to a halt.