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What's sad is that the printed maps are extremely accessible, are never "out-of-order", and cheap to print. The MTA is probably worried about re-printing & upda
by pixelmonkey 7y ago
What's sad is that the printed maps are extremely accessible, are never "out-of-order", and cheap to print. The MTA is probably worried about re-printing & updating the maps when routes change, but that happens pretty rarely and I doubt the cost of reprinting/reposting exceeds the cost of digitization.
- ummwhat 7y agoConsidering how often some ad hoc fix is going on like "A is running the F on this part of the route" or "only uptown service between here and there this weekend" or "express is local for now", having maps that can instant update and aren't misleading would be an improvement. Not once in the last few years has every train been running on the tracks it's supposed to run on in the way the map says they run. /rant
- pixelmonkey 7y agoMyMTA (beta) app is actually pretty good for knowing about these, I find. And, of course, it'll be way easier to push service changes to mobile apps than to digitized screens.
- notimetorelax 7y agoThis was my thought as well. NY metro can be so confusing, last week they announced changes by printing an A4 page and putting it up on a wall. Interactive screen would be a huge improvement.
- delfinom 7y agoSeveral stations do put up extremely large notices on screens. Not all stations have the functionality yet.
- kevindong 7y agoCan confirm that the daily/weekly service changes are deeply confusing. A lot of information is implied through the MTA's frequently terse announcements of service changes. For instance, I was waiting for a R train in the Canal St. station last weekend wanting to go to the Dekalb Ave. station. But then a N train started to come into the station on a platform it's not supposed to be on. A glance at the paper announcing this change said that the N would run on the R track between Canal St. and Dekalb Ave. Does that mean the N would stop at Dekalb Ave (a stop it ordinarily would not make)? I didn't know and the MTA app's arrival ETAs for the Dekalb Ave station indicated that it would not. The "Next Stops" board inside the N train indicated that yes, the N train would stop at Dekalb Ave. If I boarded the N and it turned out it wouldn't stop at Dekalb Ave., it would take me ~15 minutes to backtrack. So I decided to wait for the next R instead.
- AlphaWeaver 7y agoWhile I was in France, I saw an interesting solution to this on their Metro system. Maps were physical and line maps were even built into the train itself, with an indicator light showing where the train was on the line. When a stop was closed for maintenance or closed early or something, a vinyl sticker was placed over the stop with updated information. It was seamless and blended in with the style of the existing map. A solution like this would be adequate in most areas I think.
- VWWHFSfQ 7y agoAll the new trains on the main red, green, and blue lines have that for at least the last 10 years.
- coredog64 7y agoExcept it’s in the middle of the car. Good luck if it’s rush hour and you’re on an unfamiliar train. The red LED time/next stop displays are similarly useless when the train gets crowded.
- mcot2 7y agoRoutes may rarely change overall but there is a ton of daily maintenance, closures and re-routing that happens on the NYC subway system. A paper map is probably good for generally learning the system, but not very useful in the station when you want to know the exact current state of affairs.
- jessriedel 7y agoThat would be fine if the screen only ever showed the map (and could do so at a high resolution). But dollars to donuts the maps will be periodically swapped with ads, terrorists warning, and maintenance notifications that don't concern me.