Print
Feb 27, 2008 6:24 am US/Eastern
Riders May Be Alerted Of Subway Delays By SMS
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
To avoid both big and little disruptions in service, subway and bus riders may soon be able to receive email and text message alerts about the unexpected.
The MTA board will vote on a plan Wednesday morning that allows riders who sign up at the MTA's website to personalize alerts they receive by choosing what time of day they travel and which subway line they use.
A five-year contract with Mis Science Corporation allows the MTA to send an unlimited number of text messages or emails to as many as one million transit and commuter riders.
More than 41,000 LIRR and MetroNorth riders already receive email alerts about service disruptions, but the new MTA service, if approved, would be able to transmit more personalized commuter rail information, and more efficiently.
Also up for a vote - the MTA's next 5-year capital rebuilding plan for projects such as the Second Avenue subway, and robo-trains possibly on Queens Boulevard.
If approved, a high-tech signal and communications system would be installed that essentially would allow E and F trains to run by computers on the Queens Boulevard line.
The system is already in place on the L line between Brooklyn and Manhattan, but is not yet fully operational, with conductors still in place.
This Sunday, a new MTA fare hike goes into effect for NYC Subways and buses. Metro-North and LIRR fare hikes begin Saturday.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
