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ChineseFinally, A Real Red Line Message System!
[tags]red line, subway, transit information system, upgrade[/tags]
The old LED displays are on their way out!
Credit: Rice and D via Flickr
Thanks to Dane Bramage for the headline and the scoop (thanks to Matt Barrett, the Metro Librarian, as well).
This is big news for Red Line riders. A long time complaint is finally be addressed, and it looks like the proposed solution is going to be a winner. The much hated single-line LED-based Variable Message Signs (VMS) found in all Red Line stations are finally getting the boot for something bigger, better, and more useful. The main complaint about the current single-line LED signs is that they rarely display anything useful (aside from elevator information) and even if they did it would be difficult to read to the the scrolling single-line nature of the displays. Critical information to riders like arrival time, departure time, direction of travel, etc. have been inexplicably absent from the displays.
Those days will soon be over thanks to a new initiative(PDF) by the Metro Opertations commitee to upgrade the existing system with a new Public Address (PA)/VMS passenger information system.
The current VMS system has been in place for 12 years, and according to Metro the displays are breaking down more often and are no longer supported by their manufacturer. The system that will replace these antiquities will be called the Transit Passenger Information System (TPIS) and will feature 46-inch LCD monitors (the current displays are 4-feet long and 6-inches high) . That in and of itself is great, since a 46-inch monitor can hold multiple lines of text as opposed to one line of scrolling text, and and LCD display is much higher resolution than and LED which will make the messages a lot easier to read. But will new system have any messages worth reading? According to Metro, yes.
The following information will be displayed on the TPIS:
- Train arrival time and track number
- Train departure time and track number
- Information on train route and final destination
- Information on service interruptions and delays
- Notification if approaching train is not in service
- Public service announcements
- Warning, prohibitive, and general safety messages in variable formates
- Emergency instructions and evacuation procedures
As a Red Line rider, this news makes me smile. Our system is finally being modernized and made more functional and usable. It’s almost as if Metro is listening!
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Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Kudos and pats on the back all around for this. Thank you Metro.
Any estimate when we can expect to see these new displays in the stations?
Metro Staff has been working on this project over the last several years. As with many projects, budgets and technology has changed.
Once the Metro Committee and the Full Board approved this, it can still take one to two years depending upon what software and other components need to be put in place to go live. This is good that this has pasted one more check point.
I don’t know if this holds much significance for the timeline but it says the 1.2 mill which is needed for the project is included in the 2007 budget. So hopefully that means they will be starting to work on it soon.
“Funding of $1,250,000.00 for this contract is included in the FY ‘07 budget” (from the PDF)
Heh this is nice… Boston’s subway can’t even competently figure out how to do our current scrolling sign boards. I just hope they leave the elevator information up there, it’s crucial since they don’t put it on a website or hotline yet.
I would like to congradulate all metroriders for yor outcry on such changes. I’m giving us all full credit for this one, even if not entirely do.
I’ll give congrats when I see the signs up 3 years from now.
better yet, fuck the information, let’s get some more transit TV!