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I understand your thinking but don't agree. Automation can indeed be rolled out, as long as it fits cleanly within the existing network. A fully automated train
by kposehn 4y ago
I understand your thinking but don't agree. Automation can indeed be rolled out, as long as it fits cleanly within the existing network. A fully automated train that follows the same rules as non-automated would easily work. The challenge is you can't realize the network fluidity benefits until much later, vs. an all-at-once rollout.
- bobthepanda 4y agoAy, but there's the rub. It's challenging to do this well at the required level of reliability, and at a cheap enough cost to deploy at scale. NYC has been moving to (theoretically automatable) CBTC signaling from mechanical signals. It's been challenging. * The CBTC and mechanical interface has issues and constantly fails over the entire system * The mechanical system is itself falling apart because it dates from the '30s, and is so old that the suppliers no longer exist and they source parts either from collectors on eBay or make it themselves, and this is also affecting the first bullet point * Few modern suppliers of signaling actually sell fixed-block signaling that can handle the capacity required today, and even if they did, would it make sense to spend hundreds of millions or billions on a stopgap to CBTC, which will also cost hundreds of millions or billions?