Blog

Aug 29, 2023

Subway Platform Barriers Will Be Tested at 3 N.Y.C. Stations

Advertisement Supported by The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which had

Advertisement

Supported by

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which had resisted calls to add platform barriers, will begin a pilot program amid outcry over safety in the transit system.

Send any friend a story

As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

By Michael Gold and Ana Ley

For years, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had resisted calls to install the platform barriers that are used in subway systems around the globe to block access to tracks, citing the "special complexities" of bringing such technology to a more than century-old system not designed for it.

But on Wednesday, more than a month after a woman was shoved to her death in front of a train at the Times Square subway station, transit officials reversed course and said they would move to test such barriers.

While the pilot program will be limited to three stations, it does include some platforms at the Times Square station, one of the system's busiest stops, and officials say it could lay the foundation for an eventual expansion elsewhere.

More than one-fourth of the system's stations have layouts that could eventually accommodate platform barriers, according to an analysis commissioned by the M.T.A., which operates the subway.

The announcement comes as many New Yorkers have become anxious about safety on the subway, where the rates of violent crime per million weekday passengers have risen during the pandemic even as ridership has plunged, and where the number of people who end up on the tracks, most of them intentionally, is rising.

The subway system is considered a lifeblood of the city and a key to its economic recovery, and making riders feel safe is crucial to coaxing back the millions of commuters who have yet to return to the trains.

State and city officials have launched a sweeping plan to move homeless people who shelter in the subways out of trains and off platforms; some of them have been accused of committing crimes and engaging in unruly behavior.

Installing the barriers, which are known as platform edge doors or platform screen doors, could be another step to restore confidence. The program at the three stations will cost more than $100 million, said Janno Lieber, the transportation authority's chair and chief executive.

The work will probably not be completed before 2024, he added, "assuming we can resolve the financial issues and everything else," such as technical challenges.

The protective doors, which create a barrier that blocks the track area from platforms until trains arrive, are used on many newer subway systems, train lines and stations in Europe and Asia, including in London, Hong Kong, Paris, Singapore and Tokyo. They are far less common in the United States, though they are used in some airport shuttle train systems, including the AirTrain at Kennedy International Airport.

A 2015 study that examined whether platform screen doors in Japan kept people from going onto train tracks found them to be highly effective, especially in preventing accidents.

Platform doors could also improve service because train operators would not have to slow down as they approach crowded platforms, and they could reduce litter on the tracks, which can set off fires and cause delays, said Yonah Freemark, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute who focuses on transportation and city planning.

"It's a win-win-win," he said.

The addition of platform doors at the three stations — the No. 7 line platform at the Times Square station; the E line platform at the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue–JFK Airport station in Queens; and the Third Avenue station on the L line in Manhattan — would mark a stark change in a sprawling system with 472 stations that have nothing separating riders from the tracks.

"I think it's weird the train is open the way it is," said Roxann Valdes, 32, a paralegal aide traveling on the 7 train from Manhattan to Queens on Wednesday. "I don't think it's safe. Like, people could fall. People could push you."

Though the transportation authority has studied implementing barriers repeatedly in recent years, previous leaders have concluded that they were too expensive or that engineering requirements in aging stations made them unsuitable. In 2018, the transit authority postponed a similar pilot also slated for the Third Avenue station on the L line and shifted the money to installing elevators.

As recently as last month, Mr. Lieber said that installing the doors would be unfeasible given the "special complexities" in New York's subway. But as pressure mounted, he signaled an openness to the idea, noting that he had formed a task force in December to address a rise in the number of people ending up on the tracks.

Last year, the transportation authority reported 1,267 track intrusions — meaning a person on the tracks — a jump of 19 percent from 2019, even as subway ridership declined by more than half. Of those incidents, 200 resulted in people being hit by a train, with 68 deaths.

Transit officials say most people on the tracks, including those hit by trains, chose to be there. Of the 200 collisions last year, about a quarter, or 47, involved suicide attempts.

Another significant number are people who hop off platforms to retrieve something they’ve dropped. Others traverse the tracks to get from one station's platform to another. Some are mentally ill people whose motivations are unclear.

But the subway system has also seen an increase in people pushed onto the tracks. According to the Police Department, 30 people were shoved to the tracks in 2021, up from 20 in 2019, when ridership was far higher. The police did not have information on how many shoving incidents led to injuries or deaths.

Felony assaults have also risen in the system: They were up nearly 25 percent last year compared with 2019.

The issue of subway safety drew widespread attention after a 40-year-old woman, Michelle Alyssa Go, was shoved to her death in front of a moving R train at the Times Square station. A homeless man who the police said confessed to having pushed Ms. Go was charged in her killing, a shocking crime that prompted Mayor Eric Adams to increase police patrols in the system.

The mayor went a step further last week, announcing a subway safety plan focused on removing homeless people from the system and deploying social workers to help connect them with mental health resources and other support services.

But Ms. Go's death also led to demands from riders and elected officials for an engineering solution. The Manhattan borough president, Mark Levine, and 10 City Council members sent Mr. Lieber a letter urging him to install platform doors.

"This is long overdue," Mr. Levine said on Wednesday. "We are decades behind other cities around the world. And I’m sorry that it took the tragic death of Michelle Go to elevate this, but there's no doubt that was really a turning point."

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who controls the M.T.A., endorsed the initiative, calling it an innovative approach to improving safety.

Riders also welcomed the news.

"I’ve seen in the news a lot of attacks against passengers," said Rosa Velazquez, 40, who has a cleaning job and commutes from Queens to Manhattan every day. "I get scared standing there at the train stops and not knowing if I will get home safely or not."

Last month, as calls for the doors grew louder, the transit authority released a detailed 3,900-page report from 2019 that found the doors could reasonably be installed at only 128 stations because of station layout, subway car design and the need for wheelchair access, leaving riders at most of the system's stations unprotected.

On Wednesday, Mr. Lieber acknowledged that engineering challenges remained across most of the system. But he said he hoped that testing the platform doors at three stations could help clear the way for others.

Still, expanding the pilot would present significant financial and logistical challenges. The price tag for installing barriers at the 128 stations would be about $7 billion, according to the 2019 report.

Platform doors are just one tool available to deal with riders being pushed, falling or trespassing on the tracks, transit officials said. The agency is hoping that the city's increased police presence could help prevent some people from falling or jumping onto the tracks.

Cameras have also been added to the front of L trains in another pilot program meant to avoid collisions with riders by giving train operators more time to brake.

The agency is exploring detection systems that could use thermal or laser technology to signal when a person ends up on the tracks.

It will also work with mental health experts on public service announcements and other methods of deterring suicide attempts and will create a new campaign to warn riders about the dangers of being on the tracks.

Andy Newman contributed reporting.

An earlier version of this article misstated the age of the subway system. It opened 118 years ago; it is not 104 years old.

How we handle corrections

Michael Gold is a reporter covering transit and politics in New York. @migold

Ana Ley is a Metro reporter covering transit in New York. Before joining The Times, she worked at newspapers in Texas, Las Vegas and Virginia. @La__Ley

Advertisement