Photo by Jose Martinez/THE CITY |
Countdown
clocks have sprouted at more than 500 MTA bus stops citywide over the
last five years, offering one way for commuters to learn how long
they’ll have to wait.
But at many stops, time stands still.
THE
CITY spot-checked 40 countdown clocks across the five boroughs — and
found that one of every five of the high-tech signs didn’t work.
The
eight clunky clocks included sites where malfunctioning modems cut off
access to real-time bus information — like at West 57th Street and 7th
Avenue in Manhattan — or where power problems have caused extended
outages.
“I’ve
never seen this thing work,” Bavly Hanna, 21, said of the clock at the
Lexington Avenue and East 89th Street stop for the M101, M102 and 103
buses. “I don’t even bother looking at the clock because I know it’s not
going to work.”
That’s
because the East 89th Street sign has been out of service since July 2,
2018, according to the city’s Department of Transportation, which
maintains the countdown clocks through its own crews and contractors.
A
few blocks north on Lexington, at East 94th Street, the countdown clock
has been on the blink since May 8. THE CITY also found malfunctioning
timers along Second Avenue and on West 57th Street in Manhattan, at
Vernon Boulevard and 50th Avenue in Queens and at Jerome Avenue and
Bedford Park Boulevard in The Bronx.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Ray Colon, 74, of The Bronx. “Why put any money into something that doesn’t work?”
Countdown
clocks have cost the city millions of dollars since they began
appearing at some bus stops in 2014. Last year, five City Council
members spent more than $1 million in capital funding to install more.
5 comments:
Some won't show the nearby bus
LINKNYC is a joke
“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Ray Colon, 74, of The Bronx. “Why put any money into something that doesn’t work?”
Yes it does, if you understand where the money is going and who is benefiting from the spending. Same as it ever was...
Perhaps a clue: when the arrival estimates don't work, neither does the bus wifi
The screens inside the Q5 bus that announces the next stop does not work anymore either.
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