New technology brings popular countdown clocks to more NYC subway platforms

System uses inexpensive Bluetooth beacons

September 1, 2017 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Shown: the countdown clock at High Street station in Brooklyn Heights. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

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Riders on the E and G subway lines no longer have to peer down a dark tunnel to see if a train is coming. These are the latest lettered lines to be outfitted with a new, high tech countdown arrival clock, joining the C and R lines and several other pilot program stations, MTA announced on Thursday.

The new countdown clocks use inexpensive beacon technology, and will be installed at all lettered line stations by the end of 2017, MTA says.

When it comes to countdown clocks, the lettered lines have lagged behind the numbered lines, which had a more complicated style of countdown clock installed in 2006.

The beacons used in the new system are low-energy Bluetooth transponders installed on trains that connect with location readers installed in stations. The beacons “ping” location information when they pass a reader, which happens when trains enter and exit stations. LCD display screens at each station provide customers with real-time train arrival information.

While not as accurate as the clocks used on the numbered lines (due to the differences in technology), the system is cheaper and allows the tracking system to be in place earlier than would be otherwise possible.

“Beacon technology does not involve invasive modifications to station infrastructure and can be deployed at a fraction of the costs associated with the countdown clocks already in the system,” MTA Managing Director Veronique Hakim said in a statement.

The new countdown clocks were called “an unmitigated MTA success” by Riders Alliance in December 2016. Riders Alliance observers who tracked the new system’s pilot program found the clocks to be largely accurate, with 59 percent of clocks correctly predicting the eventual train arrival time to within one minute of accuracy and 81 percent predicting the time to within two minutes of accuracy.

Riders Alliance recommended that MTA expand the system to the web, so that riders can access real-time train information from their smartphones and on the internet.

MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota said in a statement that the new system was part of an aggressive effort to improve the customer experience “through increased reliability and capacity, enhanced stations and safety, and clear and accurate communication.”

The addition of countdown clocks to the E and G lines brings the total number of stations with countdown clocks to 296, according to MTA. This includes 156 stations on the numbered lines and 24 l stations with countdown clocks connected to the line’s Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signal system.