• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

NYC GAF: what are your thoughts on subway platform doors/gates?

Status
Not open for further replies.
7726114040_21c082ab5e_z.jpg


why the hell don't we have these? every time im at a station i'm always cautious about some nut making a stupid scene. there have been numerous tragedies that have happen in the nyc mta metro that could be avoided if we had these gates, man.

one of my friends was waiting for the train today, and some dude tossed himself in front of an oncoming train.

is this stuff on the back of your mind when you're commuting or what? should i get an iphone
 
If someone wants to jump they will just jump over those =/

Just need to always mind your surroundings and stand well back to avoid getting pushed
 
I would like them, but yeah it'd be way too expensive. I'd definitely wouldn't mind though if they raised the price of fare to work on something like this.
 
Yeah, I would like for there to be gates of some sort here. I always cringe when a little kid runs along the yellow line as a tired parent chases after them.
 
If someone wants to jump they will just jump over those =/

Just need to always mind your surroundings and stand well back to avoid getting pushed

well, yeah but not everyone is as cautious.. and they would at least insure a good deal of security, unlike yellow goddamn lines

and if anybody really wanted to jump over those things, why not just design the gates to be around 6.5-7 foot tall?

I would like them, but yeah it'd be way too expensive. I'd definitely wouldn't mind though if they raised the price of fare to work on something like this though.

i wouldn't mind this one bit and it'd be a good idea to do this, its 2013 and we're still being guarded by a drawn line
 
You'd also have to make sure the trains stopped at the exact same point to line up with those doors, that would also probably cost a lot of money
 
Subway system is so fucking ancient

Before we even get gates going, we need to bring all stations up to the year 2013 code

Some stations are like frozen in time and are from the 1970's

Retrofitting would be a huge undertaking

Also realize not all stations = same specs, which is the biggest fucking wrench there is
#7 Platforms are huge, but say 59th Street/5th Ave N stop is so small
Also don't forget steel girders cock-block the gates in some way/shape or form

Also above ground trains will have the elements to deal with, which will require more diversified gates
#7, #4/5/6, A/C, F, N, R etc.
 
Funny as hell because I was thinking about that. The problem is it would take years to develop and implement it in every station across all the boroughs. Plus NY State would have to pump a hell of a lot more money into the MTA to make these types of things happen.

As of now, the MTA doesn't receive a lot of money from NY State which sucks. That's why the MTA is raising the fares next month. Still, it would pretty good to see that happen but realistically, I don't see it happening for a long time.
 
That gate ain't gonna stop nutt'n. If people are gonna take themselves out of the game because life has gotten THAT irreversibly shitty, then that 4 foot high gate won't stop them. I'd be more focused on reaching out to those folk before it gets that to that point.

I'm more worried about people pushing ME. If you want to guess who I am in a group of people waiting for the train or BART, then I'm that dude with his back placed FIRMLY against a wall or with his ass glued to the benches. I ain't play'n.
 
LOL - That's purely cosmetic. You can easily jump over or toss someone over.

But it would take care of the more realistic scenarios of someone being pushed or tripped.

Alternatively they could implement floor to ceiling doors like in the Hong Kong subway.

Although you are right that if someone really want to get over the waist high doors to kill themselves they easily could.
 
None of these gates would have prevented the suicide your friend saw today because it was at an open air station. What are you going to do, enclose the entire platform in a cocoon?

It's a nice-to-have that would cost a ton of money and only move the needle, not nullify platform deaths altogether. Retrofitting these things across the breadth of diverse train stations across the MTA system would be a herculean task.
 
But it would take care of the more realistic scenarios of someone being pushed or tripped.

Alternatively they could implement floor to ceiling doors like in the Hong Kong subway.

Hooray Now that fresh air circulation gets stuffed and that piss inducing fume hovers inside those closed chamber...

NO FUCKING THANKS!
 
Go one more stop up you get 103rd Street Corona Plaza (My stop)

The train doors stay open for like 25-30 seconds due to the fucking exodus of people unleashing out of the train

Dude, I'm ex-Main Street. It's extra sport hurling little old Chinese ladies out the way in those 30 seconds. Yes I can say that because I'm Chinese. No I'm not a very good Chinese person.
 
Well, it's like the Golden Gate Bridge. Dozens of people throw themselves off of it a year, and there's been talk of putting some sort of net up, but it would cost 50 million dollars, so....

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2013/01/golden-gate-bridge-suicides-again-top-30-2012

It's actually pretty crazy, 1600 people (known) have killed themselves on it. Even over 75 years, that's a hell of a lot of people.

The Golden Gate Bridge is the second most popular suicide location in the world. The number one is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.
 
All they need to do is add a simple railing system that alings against the areas that the doors would be.. A simple metal rail fence that's high enough.
 
It's probably too expensive to install those throughout the city.

I live in Seoul, with the world's most extensive subway system by length, and "the world's only subway to have all stations installed with automatic platform gates for safety". So if they can do it, why not NY.
 
I live in Seoul, with the world's most extensive subway system by length, and "the world's only subway to have all stations installed with automatic platform gates for safety". So if they can do it, why not NY.

It probably has to do with the fact that the NYC subway system is a cool century older than Seoul's subway system. It's a lot harder to retrofit older infrastructure than it is to build alongside new ones.
 
I live in Seoul, with the world's most extensive subway system by length, and "the world's only subway to have all stations installed with automatic platform gates for safety". So if they can do it, why not NY.

No it's not. All the Subway Stations in Shenzhen China have them.
 
Look how long it's taking to get those arrival time boards installed in all stations, or the 2nd Ave line - things move so slowly here. It would take an incredible amount of time and money to install a system like these gates. Given the state of affairs at the MTA there is no way this makes any kind of fiscal sense.
 
Too much money that the MTA doesn't have and the city would never help fund it, the only thing they will do is advise people to hug the walls when trains are coming in.
 
I would bet the massive cost of implementing those across the whole city would prevent less suicide/murder/injury than spending the same dollars on programs to help the mentally ill.
 
A quick search turns up a couple dozen subway-related deaths and an additional ~100 injuries per year in NYC, and that's all kinds including suicides and suicide attempts. I don't mean to minimize 150 casualties per year but in comparison to at least a billion subway riders in the same time frame, the feasibility and cost of doors and platform barriers is a very legitimate question.
 
All they need to do is add a simple railing system that alings against the areas that the doors would be.. A simple metal rail fence that's high enough.

That wouldn't work because not all subway cars are the same length

Yep

They probably won't do shit unless a few more people get killed....

< 50 people die every year getting hit by trains in the NYC subway, including suicides, and I think that number is decreasing. It might make sense to put doors on "hot spot" stations where deaths happen more often, but anything more than that is a waste of money.
 
The 7 line is going to be a bitch to upgrade. As is 14th street on the 4/5/6 line. It would cost the city/MTA too much money to retrofit all the platforms with these.
 
7726114040_21c082ab5e_z.jpg


why the hell don't we have these? every time im at a station i'm always cautious about some nut making a stupid scene. there have been numerous tragedies that have happen in the nyc mta metro that could be avoided if we had these gates, man.

one of my friends was waiting for the train today, and some dude tossed himself in front of an oncoming train.

is this stuff on the back of your mind when you're commuting or what? should i get an iphone

Can the average 'merican fit through those gates?

Is that Japan? They have a super high suicide rate - strangely in Korea they have no gates = highest suicide rate in the first world.
 
A quick search turns up a couple dozen subway-related deaths and an additional ~100 injuries per year in NYC, and that's all kinds including suicides and suicide attempts. I don't mean to minimize 150 casualties per year but in comparison to at least a billion subway riders in the same time frame, the feasibility and cost of doors and platform barriers is a very legitimate question.

There's the issue of air quality, noise and comfort as well, of course.

In the end I see most metros the world over having these.

Is that Japan? They have a super high suicide rate - strangely in Korea they have no gates = highest suicide rate in the first world.

Hmm? All stations in Seoul have full walls with gates.
 
My guess would be the reason is that we still let conductors drive subway trains for some reason and they don't stop in the exact same spot every time. Airport trains/monorails which drive themselves tend to have doors

Although other countries (Signapore, etc) manage it somehow
 
Also, I think doors would be difficult to add because the subway system at least partially relies on the movement of trains to circulate fresh air
 
How about first we focus on making audible announcements on trains and in platforms?
How about an announcement in the first place when the train is not coming?
Or reducing the 5 to 1 ratio of empty F trains to Packed M trains?

I do not trust the MTA to handle a project of that scope if they can't even hire someone to sit in a fucking train for 5 minutes and say "yes, I can hear you" or no, I cannot hear you".
 
In China most of the subway platforms are completely closed.
The reason is that its more crowded, and higher suicide rate.

 
The only place in NYC that has the gates is the JFK AirTrain:

c3b867b5c76143306b1083aebf051545.jpeg

Those are a bit different, though - they have those in some stations in London (or, rather, some lines) but I seem to recall reading something about how they can't be installed everywhere because of what they do to the air flow in tunnels. Not enough air goes to where it's meant to go and pressure gets too high, or resistance too high, or something.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom