Advanced Signaling Makes the Most Out of Old Subways, But Can New York Handle It?

In the German-speaking world, there’s an old saying about transit planning: Organisation vor Elektronik vor Beton, or organization before electronics or concrete. With limited resources — and resources are always limited — transit agencies should exhaust all of the cheapest fixes before heading toward the more expensive “concrete” options like digging new tunnels and laying more track. New York City and many large cities around the world have nearly hit their limit on the cheapest sort of organizational fixes like lengthening trains and rejiggering schedules. They’re building a few new lines, but these are very expensive (nowhere more so than in New York). So in the meantime, cities such as New York, London, Paris and Tokyo are relying on electronics as the primary way to up rail capacity.

 

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