Robots, Longer Trains Among 'Genius' Ideas To Fix Subways

NEW YORK, NY — Straphangers could soon have to get in the right subway car to reach their station if one MTA "genius" gets his way. A plan by lawyer Craig Avedisian would have the transportation authority run trains longer than subway platforms and have them pull only partially into each station.

Avedisian's proposal was one of the winners of the MTA's "Genius Transit Challenge" unveiled Friday. Under the plan, the MTA would run trains with 14 cars rather than 10. Just the first 10 cars would pull into every other station on a given line and the back 10 would stop at the other half.

Passengers would have to keep an eye on which car they board to make sure they'll be able to get off at the right stop. But Avedesian says the idea would mean the subways could carry 42 percent more passengers for a reasonable cost.

"It doesn't require the MTA to lengthen the platforms in the system," said Avedisian, who got a $330,000 prize for his idea. "That is a very expensive proposition for the MTA to do. This avoids that problem."

The proposal is among eight winners and two honorable mentions honored in the "genius" competition. The others included a track-fixing robot, futuristic subway cars and new technology that could overhaul the subway's outdated signal system in just six years.

The MTA gave about $2.5 million to the honorees in three categories: subway cars, signaling and communications. MTA officials said they're now studying how they could implement the ideas and how much they would cost.

"My team are itching to get started on this," New York City Transit President Andy Byford said. "We're ready to go."

Bechtel Innovation took the $500,000 award in the communications category. The engineering firm proposed a robot called "The Big B" that could make routine track fixes in dangerous areas, letting human crews focus on more complex work.

MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said the robot, modeled after a device used in London, wouldn't mean any transit workers would lose their jobs.

The train-car manufacturer CRRC took another $330,000 prize alongside Avedisian in the subway cars category. The company pledged to spend $50 million to design New York City's "car of the future" that would take advantage of new technology and top-flight materials such as carbon fiber.

The new cars would have modern train control technology as well as charging ports, WiFi and high-tech screens to make the ride better for straphangers. They would also have a shorter life cycle, which would end up saving the MTA money.

Metrom Rail and transportation engineer Robert James took home $250,000 apiece for their plans to install a new signaling system using ultra-wideband technology. The system, which the MTA is currently testing, would track each train's exact location, allowing workers to space trains more consistently.

The new devices are cheap to buy and install, James said — the MTA could put them in within six years for around $400 million.

"It’s off-the-shelf technology that is being used widely and allows it to be produced at a very low cost," James said.

MTA officials plan to work with the winners to create concrete plans for implementing the ideas. Most of them would be funded through the agency's next five-year capital plan, Lhota said.

(Lead image: Riders wait on a crowded subway platform in April 2017. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)