Countdown Signs Discussion

diburning wrote:Frst Hills eh? Looks more like an abbreviation for "Frost Hills" instead of Forest Hills.

I made the same joke in my head earlier too.

Adams_Umass_Boston wrote:

diburning wrote:Frst Hills eh? Looks more like an abbreviation for "Frost Hills" instead of Forest Hills.

I made the same joke in my head earlier too.

Ah, its winter and the weather is getting colder!

JoeD

I thought it was First Hails.

Patrick Boylan wrote:I thought it was First Hails.

They should just abbreviate it Forest H or something.

Frst Hills is something, so I believe that means they did abbreviate it Forest H or something.

It looks like they CAN fit two more letters on the sign, but I'm not sure if it's a software limitation though.

I was sad to see this morning that what could have been the most convenient countdown sign only had one direction on it. The Devonshire entrance to State only shows Forest Hills trains. I use that entrance everyday for the Oak Grove platform. I was so happy to hear that I wouldn't have to listen for the train and then sprint down that long hallway. Oh well...

Looks like the Charles/MGH signs will have to be replace with the same ones that every one else (station wise) has. Im sure that Charles Riders could and should know how much longer before their next train especially goi9ng towards JFK and South Station

Today was the second mass rollout of the countdown clocks. I noticed them this afternoon at Government Center, and found online reports of quite a few more getting them as of today. The following stations went live this morning:

Government Center
Wonderland
Wellington
JFK/UMASS
North Quincy
Wollaston
Quincy Center
Quincy Adams
Savin Hill
Fields Corner
Shawmut



This just leaves the following to get them:
Bowdoin
Oak Grove
Malden Center
Stony Brook
Green Street
Forest Hills
Alewife
Davis
Porter
Ashmont
Braintree

ns3010 wrote:This just leaves the following to get them:

Interesting how they're all at the end or near the end of lines. The data feed that has been available for a while (e.g. at mbtainfo.com) only shows data for trains that have already left their termini. So there wouldn't generally be data for any of these stations for inbound trains.

Do the boards for, say, Government Center and Wonderland show the correct arrival times for trains which have not actually yet left?

Based on the Blue Line clocks...the system is capable of anticipating the arrival of a train that hasn't left the terminal

I'm not sure exactly how they figure out those times. Tonight, as an inbound train arrived, the clocks said "Wonderland 4 min." When I saw that I was wondering how they could come up with that number, especially considering that Bowdoin was not open today (as all subway lines ran on a Saturday schedule). Interesting how they can predict times for trains that aren't actually running yet.

Bowdoin may not be open, but trains still have to pass through to Bowdoin to loop back around.

jdrinboston wrote:Based on the Blue Line clocks...the system is capable of anticipating the arrival of a train that hasn't left the terminal

At terminals like Alewife, where trains lay over at the platform, what determines when the starting bell rings? Is it automatic on a timer, or does someone in a control center do it?

Even if they know when the bell is going to ring, there's a lot of uncertainty in how long it will be until the train actually leaves. Which affects when the outbound train(s) waiting in the tunnel will arrive at Alewife.

At Alewife, these signs will also indirectly tell passengers which train is leaving first, since either Ashmont or Braintree will be listed first.

It's no fun to guess wrong when there are trains parked on both tracks. Train operators hardly ever make an announcement before they close the doors and go. There used to be light-up "Next Train" signs (and still are at Forest Hills), but they were removed a few years ago.

ns3010 wrote:This just leaves the following to get them:
Bowdoin
Oak Grove
Malden Center
Stony Brook
Green Street
Forest Hills
Alewife
Davis
Porter
Ashmont
Braintree

Bowdoin already has countdowns. Even just saw them 5 minutes ago. It displays BRD when an eastbound is boarding. I don't believe it counts down for terminating westbound trains, just the originating eastbounds.