Posted on 02/01/2011 6:16:50 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The MTA may install sliding mechanical doors on subway platforms so riders can't fall, jump - or get pushed to the tracks.
The metal-and-glass doors would be part of a barrier along a platform's edge and would open only after a train stops at the station, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority document shows.
The system would help prevent tragic incidents, like the Sunday morning death on the L train tracks of 24-year-old Brendan Mahoney in Brooklyn, officials said.
And it would protect riders from killers like Andrew Goldstein, the mental patient who shoved 32-year-old Kendra Webdale to her death in front of a speeding N train beneath Madison Square Park in 1999.
In 2009 alone, 90 people were struck by trains - and 40 died, NYC Transit stats show. "We are very early in the process of looking at the possibility of installing platform doors that would go a long way toward enhancing passenger safety and station appearance," MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said.
The protective platforms under consideration are increasingly common overseas in cities like London, Paris and Tokyo. They are also in use closer to home at AirTrain stops in Queens and in New Jersey.
Subway riders yesterday said the platform barriers and doors would be a good addition but worried about the costs and whether installation would drive fares up.
"I think it's great but ... I don't know where they'll get the funds to finance that," said Dave Ugelow, a 24-year-old Manhattan law student. "Anything that can prevent people from falling or jumping on the tracks is a good thing."
One plan under consideration is to allow whoever builds the doors to share the revenue from advertising that would go on them.
NYC Transit has drafted a two-page list of requirements for the platform-edge barriers in what is called a "Request for Information" that is due back from manufacturers in March. It asks companies interested in the project to describe their qualifications and how they might proceed if selected.
Proponents say the door would do more than just help protect passengers - it would also help reduce the number of lawsuits and the million-dollar payouts the agency faces each year.
Another added benefit: The doors would prevent trash from being tossed or blown onto the tracks. Hundreds of trains are delayed each month by small fires ignited by sparks from trains and the electrified third rail.
Sounds good on paper, but just wait until the sliding doors are vandalized, riddled with graffiti, and have mechanical failures and do not open.
union jobs...spending where it’s needed most.....votes
The government needs to pass a law declaring that accidents are illegal, and then spend whatever it takes to enforce the law. [/s]
Great! Now all we need is similar devices along all NYC streets, so nobody can be struck by cars. /sarc
Last night, my LIRR train was delayed an half an hour and taken out of service becasue the 4 crew members, plus the superivors and maintenance team (with an estimated combined IQ of 74) could not figure out how to close one door. I can only imagine the delays that these idiotic devices will cause, not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billions) this will cost the MTA, which despite huge taxpayer subsidies and huge fare hikes, continues to run huge defictis.
Good idea. How about a law forbidding a speeding train from coming within 1,000 feet of a person who has fallen onto, been pushed onto, or voluntarily walked onto the tracks? I’m sending this one to Peter King right now.
Slowing the trains just before they reach the stations might do the trick. Wouldn't much affect scheduling.
What nonsense! For this to work,they need the trains to stop in exact positions - like the automated trains (with much wider doors) do at many airports. Good luck with that! NYers are lucky when the trains stop anywhere near the platform.
This seems like a boondoggle in search of purpose and funding. How many years has the subway survived w/out there doors?
OT: what does a token cost these days? I can remember when they cost a quarter. And you could ride all day if you wanted.
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