New PIDS displays

[wrivlin]

Anyone have any more info on the new PIDS displays that are apparently being installed in stations? This photo was posted on Twitter from Takoma station. When did these start going up, and where/when will they appear elsewhere?
https://twitter.com/JRPartlowIV/status/ ... 1053719552

UPDATE: Per @MetroReasons, they have also been installed at Judiciary Sq station.

[tommyboy6181]

I'm not sure when that started. But I do know that the existing vendor for the current PIDS system (Inova Solutions) ended up exiting the transportation industry not long after they installed the current PIDS system. Now they focus specifically on their call center solutions.

[MCL1981]

Same useless information with a pretty new display. Wonderful.

[JDC]

Same useless information with a pretty new display. Wonderful.

I have to disagree. How is any of the information shown 'useless'? People in NYC would LOVE to have what we have. These displays aren't just pretty, they are tremendously more functional. The ability to scroll alerts along the bottom also is huge because it means that train arrival times do not have to be interrupted, to the benefit of an overwhelming number of riders. I also believe that these will be visible at at much farther distance.

[YOLO]

Because the times are often wrong and the funds should spent on safety improvements, not useless crap like this.

[JDC]

Because the times are often wrong and the funds should spent on safety improvements, not useless crap like this.

During weekdays I find the arrival times to be pretty accurate, except for the end stations (which is a known issue with the brains behind the PIDS). Again, these is far from useless 'crap'. One of riders' biggest complaints is lack of communication from Metro, and these new displays are an additional tool in that regard. I have not seem them up close, but I wonder if in an emergency they could turn into a video screen and display an actual person conveying a message? As for funds, there are funds for safety improvements like rails, railcars, billions of dollars worth. Those funds being spent, or not, should not have anything to do with upgrades to PIDS, upgrades to lighting, etc

[JackRussell]

I wonder if in an emergency they could turn into a video screen and display an actual person conveying a message?

I would imagine that the audio would be horrible were they to attempt something like that.

The Silver Line stations all have the "older" style of PIDS (some of which are frequently screwed up - just displaying random bits of noise). If Inova exited the industry, I am wondering where the new ones came from.

[MCL1981]

The information is arbitrary and wrong. Sorry I'm not doing cartwheels of joy that the wrong information can now be displayed in multiple colors. Or that the constant flow of messages about failures can scroll across the bottom, if you want to stand there for an hour slowly reading it. This is akin to saying "look, I have this really fancy smoke detector so I can be alerted in style when my house is on fire."

[tommyboy6181]

I wonder if in an emergency they could turn into a video screen and display an actual person conveying a message?

I would imagine that the audio would be horrible were they to attempt something like that.

The Silver Line stations all have the "older" style of PIDS (some of which are frequently screwed up - just displaying random bits of noise). If Inova exited the industry, I am wondering where the new ones came from.

The Silver Line probably had a third party manufacturer for the signs but integrated them into the current Inova-based system. If you look closely at the how the text is display, the letters/numbers appear slightly different than the older stations.

[davinp]

Here is a display installed at Capitol South last year.
There is an old PID sign hanging in the ceiling above
Notice it has a big ad with tiny train text on the left.

[JDC]

Here is a display installed at Capitol South last year.
There is an old PID sign hanging in the ceiling above
Notice it has a big ad with tiny train text on the left.

They just installed 3 LCD panel TVs in the Navy Yard station's entrance nearest the ballpark. It's usually ads, but sometimes Metro related news. No train arrivals though, so they are not PIDS and do not supplement the LCD screen above the station manager's booth.

[smallfire85]

Sorry for the necropost, but I didn't think this was worth its own thread. Did anyone notice the change WMATA mad eto the old PIDS? The "8" for the train length is now green:





I've seen this at every station I've been to. Anyone know when they made this change?

[JDC]

I believe it was made in the last month. GGW had a story about it last week, if I recall. I have not seen it in person....well...I have seen PIDs showing 8-car trains, so either those displays were NOT showing the new color 8, or my eyesight is as poor as I believe it is.

[MCL1981]

I noticed that this week as well. I like it. That's pretty much the only bit of information on those PIDs I care about on the red line so I know where to stand. At first I thought the sign was broken.