MTA tests motion sensing lasers, thermal image cameras to save fallen straphangers from platforms

[Harry]

 

The is pulling out all the stops. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is about to start testing motion sensors, thermal image cameras and other high-tech gear in hopes of bringing subway trains to a screeching halt when somebody ends up on the tracks, the Daily News has learned. The agency will evaluate four separate “intrusion detection” systems designed to transmit live video to the Rail Control Center when a rider falls, jumps or is pushed to the tracks, officials said. Each system is also designed to activate trackside signals that tell approaching motormen to apply the brakes. Officials are unsure of how well the systems will work in the harsh subway environment, but the pilot program is the MTA’s most ambitious effort yet to curb the troubling carnage that has bloodied the tracks for years.

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[Tokkemon]

"Carnage that has bloodied the tracks."

 

Nice sensationalism Daily News.

[QM1to6Ave]

I hope those sensors can distinguish a body from a hobo taking a dump on the tracks.

[Eric B]

Doesn't matter. That hobo can become a "body" in a minute, and thus has no business down there. Either way, it would be good for us to be alerted.

[realizm]

I guess this was a public relations move by the MTA with the media's coverage on the 12-9s during this past year. In house defense lawyers for the MTA come up with a good defense for lawsuits now on the basis that they can disprove accusations negligence for the safety of their customers in civil suits that can come from persons jumping the tracks. Not that they have any business being there, not to sound cynical.

 

The thing is that more NYers are depressed then ever before and are suicide prone as we see everyday which if I am correct shows in the rising levels of 12-9's. Will it work? The intrusion detection systems? Well as Eric B stated, a fatality can happen in seconds and the MTA heads know this.

 

If they really want to nail this in the bud, platform doors will be the answer however a number of things complicates it: 1) Its prone to vandalism such as stitchichi 2) Prohibitively expensive and in some cases not feasible. Try installing platform gates in a station with an unusual layout such 14th Street/Union Square.... 3) Personally speaking it just looks ugly to me to be looking into a set of platform gates splattered with advertisements while waiting for a train.

[bobtehpanda]

I guess this was a public relations move by the MTA with the media's coverage on the 12-9s during this past year. In house defense lawyers for the MTA come up with a good defense for lawsuits now on the basis that they can disprove accusations negligence for the safety of their customers in civil suits that can come from persons jumping the tracks. Not that they have any business being there, not to sound cynical.

 

The thing is that more NYers are depressed then ever before and are suicide prone as we see everyday which if I am correct shows in the rising levels of 12-9's. Will it work? The intrusion detection systems? Well as Eric B stated, a fatality can happen in seconds and the MTA heads know this.

 

If they really want to nail this in the bud, platform doors will be the answer however a number of things complicates it: 1) Its prone to vandalism such as stitchichi 2) Prohibitively expensive and in some cases not feasible. Try installing platform gates in a station with an unusual layout such 14th Street/Union Square.... 3) Personally speaking it just looks ugly to me to be looking into a set of platform gates splattered with advertisements while waiting for a train.

 

In all fairness, ads look much better as stickers on glass than they do as paper sheets crammed into frames.

 

That being said, the NYPD is not about to clear the system's tunnels of the homeless, and the detection systems used in other countries may be too sensitive; New York has a fair amount of litter being thrown onto the tracks, or rats clambering between tracks. Such a system would definitely not be feasible on the open cuts, especially during leaf season.

[realizm]

In all fairness, ads look much better as stickers on glass than they do as paper sheets crammed into frames.

 

That being said, the NYPD is not about to clear the system's tunnels of the homeless, and the detection systems used in other countries may be too sensitive; New York has a fair amount of litter being thrown onto the tracks, or rats clambering between tracks. Such a system would definitely not be feasible on the open cuts, especially during leaf season.

 

I see what you are saying. We'll have to see then how the tech contractor developing this technology can compensate for differentiation of objects picked up by sensors. It would be a major pain if the whole line stops from a tripped alarm just because a empty soda can falls into the tracks. I think it could be done as infrared can detect heat. So if it can be designed as such as it can detect human bodily heat norms, that would be a plus to mitigate false alarms.

[46Dover]

I'd like to see how those sensors work on a or train barreling down the Broadway Express line full blast. It would be a damn shame if TA had to drop train speeds because people don't know how to act

[N6 Limited]

I hope rats don't set it off

[realizm]

I hope rats don't set it off

 

Lols, but to tell you the truth, probably not as infrared sensors can detect heat. A rat has a body temperature of -99.5° F while humans its 98.6° F. Also a rat cannot trip all the sensors in an array to cause the alarm whatever as the article suggests, they are too small in other words.

[TeeLow]

I think the plan is good...on paper. Truth is as humanitarian as we want to be, it's impossible to save everyone. From cops 'eating their gun' to returning veterans suffering from PTSD, people who want to die will find ways to do it. I'm sure for the T/O's it's very traumatic seeing someone on the tracks and being helpless to stop in time. In accidental situations (someone falling on the track well before the next train is due) this plan could be a lifesaver, but if someone jumped or was pushed seconds before the train reached them the T/O can't stop in time. MTA could spend all those millions and nothing much would change statistically. Except the fare would go up to cover the cost.

 

Damn. I hate sounding so cynical. But am I wrong?

[realizm]

I think the plan is good...on paper. Truth is as humanitarian as we want to be, it's impossible to save everyone. From cops 'eating their gun' to returning veterans suffering from PTSD, people who want to die will find ways to do it. I'm sure for the T/O's it's very traumatic seeing someone on the tracks and being helpless to stop in time. In accidental situations (someone falling on the track well before the next train is due) this plan could be a lifesaver, but if someone jumped or was pushed seconds before the train reached them the T/O can't stop in time. MTA could spend all those millions and nothing much would change statistically. Except the fare would go up to cover the cost.

 

Damn. I hate sounding so cynical. But am I wrong?

Not sounding cynical to me at least. There are some drawbacks to the tentative plan you are right. It may help but not 100%.

[QM1to6Ave]

I think the plan is good...on paper. Truth is as humanitarian as we want to be, it's impossible to save everyone. From cops 'eating their gun' to returning veterans suffering from PTSD, people who want to die will find ways to do it. I'm sure for the T/O's it's very traumatic seeing someone on the tracks and being helpless to stop in time. In accidental situations (someone falling on the track well before the next train is due) this plan could be a lifesaver, but if someone jumped or was pushed seconds before the train reached them the T/O can't stop in time. MTA could spend all those millions and nothing much would change statistically. Except the fare would go up to cover the cost.

 

Damn. I hate sounding so cynical. But am I wrong?

I agree from a statistical point of view, especially if the family of anyone who dies sues the MTA and wins even with all of the new technology. Still, if it was ever my family member that fell down and was saved by this system, the cost would be worth it to me. It's sort of a no-win situation.

[TeeLow]

I agree from a statistical point of view, especially if the family of anyone who dies sues the MTA and wins even with all of the new technology. Still, if it was ever my family member that fell down and was saved by this system, the cost would be worth it to me. It's sort of a no-win situation.

If the driver wasn't dwd...if only they had taken an earlier flight...why didn't they move to San Di instead of San Fran...

Everyone sends condolences as long as it's not them on the receiving end. Hell, I know how I'd feel. Let them spend a billion dollars if it'll save my son/daughter/wife/sister/brother/best friend.

 

Without state and fed funding they'll never implement this system. From a practical POV (and MHO) it'll be too expensive with nearly negligible results. From equipment costs to training to setup/placement.

[Grand Concourse]

I dunno the costs of this system, but if it means an end of the calls for the platform barriers, then I'm all for it.

[Eric B]

It won't be able to stop last minute jumpers, so the call for barriers will still be there. 

[bobtehpanda]

I dunno the costs of this system, but if it means an end of the calls for the platform barriers, then I'm all for it.

 

In most other systems, barriers aren't actually used primarily for safety; they prevent littering and help regulate air circulation, which would be useful if MTA ever had the money to install AC.