For a recent article in The Atlantic entitled Why New York Subway Lines Are Missing Countdown Clocks, author James Somers sought out to write a small article answering that simple question.
“I honestly just wanted to know why the F train didn’t have clocks. I never expected it to be so complicated.”
What he found was a complex system of old mechanical switches, decaying infrastructure, bureaucratic nightmares and software snafus. They can all be fixed by a system called CBTC which currently only exists on the L line, but there are several roadblocks to getting it implemented system wide.
Check out the fascinating article for a great read on the NYC Subway system, what makes it work (or not), and the way forward out of all this mess.
via The Atlantic
Matt Coneybeare
Editor in Chief
Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.
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