Please say it’s so: Safer subways coming soon?

Platform screen doors will be tested at three different system stations

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Some subway riders who have seen how dangerous the platforms have become have lost faith in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Between reports of train track malfunctions, fires set on abandoned tracks, recent rider deaths and the proliferation of homeless living down below, regular riders are afraid to travel via subway.

One person who feels that way is Vittorio Bugatti, a Riverdale resident who used to take the few stops on the 1 line in the northwest Bronx before the pandemic, now almost exclusively takes the express bus to Manhattan.

His main concern is safety as there has been an upsurge of crime in the 118-year-old transit system.

Since a commuter was fatally shoved unto the subway tracks by a homeless man in Times Square in January, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been studying how to make subway platforms safer.

For years the MTA resisted the idea of platform screen doors on their subways that are in transit systems worldwide, citing the expense layout of stations.

“The MTA is implementing recommendations of the track trespassing task force to prevent trespassing incidents and protect riders,” said MTA spokesperson Eugene Resnick. “This Request for Qualifications is for firms interested in submitting proposals for the platform door pilot as one part of our comprehensive approach to tackling track intrusion.”

In February, the MTA decided to test the waters and announced a $8 billion capital project. An estimate range of $100 million is towards the platform screen door pilot program after Michelle Alyssa Go was tragically shoved on the tracks to her death in Times Square

More than 82 percent will rely on infrastructure.

In addition to its capital project of $8 billion they are working on a signal modernization plan where they will replace 80-plus-year-old traffic signal equipment.

The A, C and F line rank the least favorable in platform waiting time, according to thee MTA.

The task force is recommending including track intrusion detection technology. The artificial intelligence will alert an authority if there are dangerous acts that can lead to track intrusions.

The MTA is also interested in installing forward facing cameras — similar to its street transportation alternative, the bus system.

The pilot program is limited to three stations, yet one will be installed in one of the busiest stations yet. Times Square. Others include the Third Avenue L line and the Sutphin Boulevard — JFK Airport stop on the E line where the AirTrain connects.

“Better this than nothing,” said Charles Moerdler, longtime chair of the Community Board 8’s land use committee.

Bugatti, who has used transit systems in other countries, believes platform screen doors could work on subways in New York.

“I have lived in Italy, I also travel a lot,” Bugatti said. “They have the sorts of barriers and a lot of places abroad.”

Moerdler is very familiar with the New York subway system as well as the British one.

“I grew up in England — I grew up there, I have family there and I go there regularly and I’ve seem them in London underground, all my life,” said Moerdler, who was a former  MTA chair of Bridges and Tunnels.

The MTA’s plan is part of a three-part strategy. One, the least important element of the bunch, according to Moerdler, is crowd control. Right now people are pushed into a narrow space to find themselves in front of the subway car door. With platform screen doors they will know exactly where to stand.

The second part of the strategy is to address track pollution. Garbage is one of the reasons subway tracks have a lot of fires. MTA figures show there were 1,006 subway fires on tracks in 2021, a 40 percent increase from before the pandemic.

“That’s why we have so many rats,” Moerdler said. “Were talking about rats the size of cats or bigger.”

Platform doors decrease the amount of garbage people can throw on the track because the glass will block them. 

And then there is the issue with hundreds of homeless people living inside the track system.

“We have to have a program and continuing basis to clean them out of the subways and keep them out,” Moerdler said.

He believes some homeless people sleep in the tunnels of the stations. There are large areas where there are no tracks. He continued to say they come out for air and food.

Some people accuse the homeless who live there of crimes and unruly behavior.

“I think it was during the pandemic where we had at least two or three mentally unstable individuals in the same (subway) car,” Bugatti said.

“And so, one of the concerns is, if you are in a train that you can’t get out of, if something happens —I didn’t want to be stuck in a train like that.”

“Many people who died did not have to die,” Moerdler said.

People either fall intentionally, or unintentionally. Some are even pushed. More often, reports come in with fatalities on subway tracks.

MTA reports there 1,267 track intrusions in 2021. Of those, 200 were collisions with a train and 68 people died. An intrusion is considered both people, animals and items such as garbage, according to the MTA.

Plans are not yet ready to view for the public because the MTA does not know for certain what the format will look like. They are searching for the right proposal and want to take the time to educate contractors about the contract for the project.

For now, the contract is for 36 months.  Meghan Keegan, MTA media relations told The Riverdale Press.  Although that could change based on a more aggressive proposals, Keegan said..

Platform screen doors could be the key to restoring the confidence of commuters.

For Bugatti, he would need to see a historic change for him to ride again.

MTA, subways, new york city, platform screen doors, Eugene Resnick, vittorio bugatti, charles moerdler, CB*, meghan keegan

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