Latest news with #MTATransit
CBS News
27-02-2025
- CBS News
MTA studying technology to identify dangerous subway track debris. How a smartphone might help.
The investigation into what sparked a fire on a subway train in Washington Heights earlier this week, injuring 18 people, is raising questions about preventative measures. Transit officials were back at the scene of Tuesday's fiery encounter on the 1 line searching for answers, after a train struck an unknown object on the track and third rail at the 191st Street Station. In a one-on-one interview with CBS News New York, MTA Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said the incident remains under investigation as the transit agency works to pinpoint where the debris came from and what it was. Cheap and small technology can do wonders, MTA says The MTA said on Thursday it has been studying technology that helps scan the tracks for debris as the train is moving. "Incidents like this, usually if it hits the third rail, especially if it's metal, it disintegrates," Crichlow said. It turns out a Google Pixel smartphone is one of several tools the MTA says could have potentially prevented such a dangerous situation. "It's telling us in advance, I found something out on the roadbed that could be of concern, please send a maintainer to take a look at this specific location," Crichlow said. Back in January, the MTA mounted the phones underneath cars used on the A line to detect irregularities on the rails. They were part of a brief pilot program into whether cheap and small technology, like a cellphone, could enhance the agency's inspections of more than 600 miles of tracks. "We would pick out segments of higher-than-normal noise levels and they would send that data to us. We would actually then go out and verify if it's a defective rail," said Robert Sarno, an MTA assistant chief track officer. Screenshots sent to CBS News New York by the MTA from Google shows a log of one trip as a train passed by 14th Street. The software creates rows of information into the kind of issues found, how many, and where it was discovered. Reporter Elijah Westbrook asked Crichlow if that form of technology could have prevented along the 1 line on Tuesday. "If this technology works, you could actually hear, the equipment would tell you that 'I passed this spot, and there's something on the tracks that rattling,'" Crichlow said. "It does provide information that could prevent something in a similar scenario."
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump kills NYC congestion pricing program: report
MTA Transit officials and advocates expressed shock Wednesday over a report that President Trump's Transportation Secretary is killing the NYC congestion pricing program. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — in a letter posted by the New York Post before it was sent to Gov. Hochul — said that he was revoking the federal government's authorization for the program under the so-called the Value Pricing Pilot Program, an authorization that was given by the Biden DOT in December. It was not immediately clear how or when his action would affect the ongoing program which most drivers are paying $9 a day for driving in the congestion zone south of 60th Street in Manhattan. 'The revenues generated under this pilot program are directed toward the transit system as opposed to the highways,' Duffy wrote — expressing the whole point of congestion pricing. 'I do not believe that this is a fair deal.' 'I have concluded that the scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by congress under the VPPP,' he said. The Value Pricing Pilot Program agreement, signed in the waning days of 2024 by the state, local and federal departments of transportation, was the final sign-off required to authorize congestion pricing. In a statement, the federal DOT argued that Congestion Pricing was not allowed because it did not do enough to curb congestion. 'The toll rate was set primarily to raise revenue for transit, rather than at an amount needed to reduce congestion,' read a statement released by the department. 'By doing so, the pilot runs contrary to the purpose of the VPPP, which is to impose tolls for congestion reduction – not transit revenue generation.' It was not immediately clear what legal authority the Trump administration might have to renege on the December agreement. A Hochul spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
