By Ben Fractenberg
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — One day, straphangers might know when the next subway is coming without having to perform the ritual of looking down the track. For now, though, at six subway stations in Washington Heights and Harlem where the MTA is testing new countdown clocks, that day seems a long way off.
The MTA is testing new clocks on the A/C line, similar to those already installed on the L line, but when DNAinfo visited the stations recently, they were in various states of functioning. Two didn't have signs; two had signs that showed the date and time, or nothing at all; and two worked, albeit with a loose notion of time.
“I was at 145th and [the sign] said [the train] would come in six minutes while it was already arriving in the station,” said Pamela Cadet, who took the A train on her way to work.
The arrival times should be working at all the stops, said NYC Transit spokesman James Anyansi. But, he added, the system was still undergoing tests.
"We are trying to use existing infrastructure to make it work," Anyansi said. "This is a pilot program."
Four of the six stations — at 145th, 155th, 163rd and 168th streets — are equipped with signs. The two others, at 175th and 181st streets, broadcast arrival information over the station's public address system.
Some riders were pleased with the effort.
“You hear the woman’s voice on the PA and the train usually comes right after,” said Alex Johnson, 36, who travels from 155th Street to his job at a financial services company downtown. Johnson remarked on other improvements in the station, including more police, reliable service and general cleanliness.
The countdown display system is run by a $213 million signal control center in Midtown, the New York Times reported. The displays and public address system cost taxpayers an additional $171 million, the Times said.
If the pilot program is successful, the MTA will look to implement the clocks along other lettered lines, the authority has said, though they did not provide a specific time frame.
