Boston, long known for its aversion to common sense and practicality, boasts the nation's
But today is a new day! Today, the fine folks over at the MBTA unveiled the latest in new technology -- a way for people to know where the trains are on the tracks!
The MBTA is to release real-time data today telling riders where subway trains are located and how long it will take for the next train to arrive.This replaces the old TTHS (Tracking Through Hobos System), where hobos would be left to ramble inside the tunnels. Their cut-off scream of pain would be evaluated by people waiting at the stations, who would then guesstimate how far away the train was when it flattened the unfortunate vagabond.
We can put a man on the moon. We can put a human brain inside a mouse's head. We can literally infect an entire country with syphilis.
But we have no way of knowing where the trains are on a closed, six-mile track?
I, for one, am happy at this new advent in technology, and look forward to knowing whether I have time to go get a donut or if have to run down the stairs tossing old women and small children out of my way.
Because you know how the T is. If you miss the D train, you have to wait through a B, C, C, C, B, B, E, C, B, and E before you get another D. The tracking system won't change that, of course, but it'll be neat to see four Cs in a row stopped somewhere between Boylston and Arlington.
Wait. What?
For the subway data, the T had to find a way to convert underground train positions, as determined by electric signals on the tracks, into a similar data format that software developers could harness. Because the Green Line lacks the same tracking system, it was not included.It's going to be another few years before the green line gets this technology? Isn't this the same line which, for over half its route, is outside and visible to the naked eye? You're telling me you can't track that one?
Screw this. Where can I buy a car?
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