31–40 of 99 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it necessarily wasted, though? If the subway is tedious and unpleasant, then sure. But if I get a seat and I get 15 more minutes reading or staring out the window, then I’m probably not calling that a complete waste.
Getting a seat on the NYC subway? Lol.
Was a total piece of cake in 2020, of course %)
After an operator-error derailment on the commuter rail line I frequently ride, the response of the NTSB was to require the railroad de-prioritize on-time performance and increase schedule times. As a frequent rider on the route I would much rather have my 15 minutes per day back and risk a once-per-century fatal accident. But the risk-averse bureaucracy we've built doesn't make such calculations with a balance like…
"Sure you save some lives but how many will be late!" I do not like this math. For example the accident may not be once per century. And it is good for the bureaucracy to be risk adverse if it comes to my life. The answer is that they should improve the technology so that the system is safe and faster.
I hope you’re campaigning for a nationwide speed limit for automobiles of 20mph. It is good for the bureaucracy to be risk averse with loves after all.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Sure you save some lives but how many will be late!" I do not like this math. For example the accident may not be once per century. And it is good for the bureaucracy to be risk adverse if it comes to my life. The answer is that they should improve the technology so that the system is safe and faster.
If OP's subway carried 80k people per day (and I guess this could be conservative), and they are all delayed 15 minutes, the overall wasted time equals 1 lifetime per month. I'm all for improving the technology, but in the meantime the math should absolutely be done, at least to ensure the temporary fix isn't worse than the problem.
Also the “one extra death per century” measure seems to be derived via the method of rectal extrication, we don’t know how many deaths a schedule change might cause or prevent at all, and I bet the people working on the subway have, if anything, some idea with massive error bars.
I dunno the math seems basically impossible to do, I mean it would have to include things like “how to people, possibly irrationally, respond to deaths on the subway.”
It is actually bonkers that in this day and age the NYC subway cannot install accurate speed gauges on their trains. You can get an accurate bike speedometer for $20 on amazon, but the NYC subway cannot provide an accurate speedometer for train carrying a couple of hundred people. It is true that trains require more rigorous standards, but it is not a difficult problem. For example you can put a sensor on the electri…
The sensors must not simply survive a dirty, dusty environment, they must work perfectly with no glitches and for long periods between maintenance. And if they do swap out for a different sensor system and it fails, there's no hardware equivalent of git reset --hard (the favored way for this hardware designer to undo my soft mistakes). You have to take a train out of service, or put people in the tracks during a maintenance window.
What they have there already obviously also requires maintenance, but its performance limitations and failure modes are well understood. It takes time to cycle new things in, and old out.
Nonetheless I was also fairly shocked that their system is quite as archaic as it is. I assume it's a budget limitation driving slow progress.
After an operator-error derailment on the commuter rail line I frequently ride, the response of the NTSB was to require the railroad de-prioritize on-time performance and increase schedule times. As a frequent rider on the route I would much rather have my 15 minutes per day back and risk a once-per-century fatal accident. But the risk-averse bureaucracy we've built doesn't make such calculations with a balance like…
After an operator-error derailment on the commuter rail line I frequently ride, the response of the NTSB was to require the railroad de-prioritize on-time performance and increase schedule times. As a frequent rider on the route I would much rather have my 15 minutes per day back and risk a once-per-century fatal accident. But the risk-averse bureaucracy we've built doesn't make such calculations with a balance like…
"Sure you save some lives but how many will be late!" I do not like this math. For example the accident may not be once per century. And it is good for the bureaucracy to be risk adverse if it comes to my life. The answer is that they should improve the technology so that the system is safe and faster.
You make this trade off every day without admitting it in such stark terms.
Every time you drive, bike, or fly to a destination you’re choosing speed at an increased risk of injury or death.
It is actually bonkers that in this day and age the NYC subway cannot install accurate speed gauges on their trains. You can get an accurate bike speedometer for $20 on amazon, but the NYC subway cannot provide an accurate speedometer for train carrying a couple of hundred people. It is true that trains require more rigorous standards, but it is not a difficult problem. For example you can put a sensor on the electri…
While i agree that it is surprising that MTA continues to use archaic technology, I don't the solution is nearly as simple as you pose it. Hardware engineering is hard, and in-service engineering of complex systems desiring near 100% uptime is challenging. The sensors must not simply survive a dirty, dusty environment, they must work perfectly with no glitches and for long periods between maintenance. And if they do…
Even during the pandemic there were widespread complaints about the signal work on the L line that has now transformed it from one of the worst lines to one of the best. There's no such thing as "simple work" on a system that millions of people depend on for consistent uptime.
It is actually bonkers that in this day and age the NYC subway cannot install accurate speed gauges on their trains. You can get an accurate bike speedometer for $20 on amazon, but the NYC subway cannot provide an accurate speedometer for train carrying a couple of hundred people. It is true that trains require more rigorous standards, but it is not a difficult problem. For example you can put a sensor on the electri…
While i agree that it is surprising that MTA continues to use archaic technology, I don't the solution is nearly as simple as you pose it. Hardware engineering is hard, and in-service engineering of complex systems desiring near 100% uptime is challenging. The sensors must not simply survive a dirty, dusty environment, they must work perfectly with no glitches and for long periods between maintenance. And if they do…
We are way, WAY beyond "hardware engineering is hard", this is "this was a solved problem a century ago, using archaic means". I am happy to hand-wave away all sorts of problems but speedometers were 100% a solved problem many many years ago and no allowances or leeway should be given for this specific problem. Zero.
It is actually bonkers that in this day and age the NYC subway cannot install accurate speed gauges on their trains. You can get an accurate bike speedometer for $20 on amazon, but the NYC subway cannot provide an accurate speedometer for train carrying a couple of hundred people. It is true that trains require more rigorous standards, but it is not a difficult problem. For example you can put a sensor on the electri…
In other words: the conductor might be operating the train at a perfectly reasonable speed according to their accurate instruments and the track signals, but the track signals are no longer calibrated for their trainset or the upgrades done to it over the years. This has made conductors excessively cautious, precipitating the recent slowdown crisis on the subway.