The MTA’s tunnel vision
It’s a shame that it took a special gubernatorial program offering millions of dollars in reward cash to get the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to embrace some unconventional people-moving ideas. But here we are. The winners of Gov. Cuomo’s MTA Genius Transit Challenge, culled from 438 submissions, pulled into the station Friday. Provided they stand clear of closing doors that often squeeze out innovation, they just might make commutes better for the millions of people who rely on the subways every day.
But, to ask a one-word question that’s on the mind of everyone who uses the subways: When?
New Transit Authority chief Andy Byford needs to quickly assess which ideas are worth moving from the drawing board and into the tunnels as part of an overall subway transformation plan. Which, ahem, MTA Chairman Joe Lhota promised a long time ago, and we’re still waiting to see.
The subways’ ancient signaling system, which uses primitive technology, must — as soon as humanly possible — be replaced with communications-based train control (CBTC) to allow more trains to move faster on the tracks.
Though London made the switch and lived to tell, installing CBTC here might mean a half-century to put on every line. Really?
Enter two award-winning ideas for signaling, each earning a quarter-of-a-million-dollar bounty: Allowing a much cheaper, quicker deployment of CBTC using something called ultra-wideband wireless. It would, says the MTA, allow a systemwide overhaul within a decade. Why wait?
Another winner: to increase capacity without lengthening existing platforms, which can handle a 10-car train, by buying 14-car trains that pull in part of the way, having opposite ends open onto the platform at alternating stations.
In theory, 42% more passengers can be accommodated. If it proves feasible.
The third prize was for innovation in communications. One winner, getting a half-million bucks, proposed a robotic installation system for track and tunnel work. Again, worth it if it happens.
When Cuomo brought Lhota back as MTA chair last year after delays and breakdowns crippled the system, the new boss put together an emergency plan to stabilize service.
He also promised a long-term transformation strategy that would get the trains running far more reliably over the long term.
Injecting a few new ideas into the old carcass is well and good, but it’s no substitute for a comprehensive and pragmatic plan to actually get things back on track. Where is it?