Long Island Railroad's Snowstorm Postmortem: We Need Better Technology — And Communication Skills

[marmar]

Following the Jan. 23 blizzard — which caused a shutdown of the LIRR, followed by a bumpy resumption of service that confused and infuriated riders — the MTA promised to take a hard look at what happened, with an eye to lessons learned.

"It was a very, very difficult storm," said LIRR president Patrick Nowakowski. "We were obviously at it for several days before we got back to normal service."

He said the agency could benefit from additional snowfighting equipment, like more plow trains, as well as the trucks necessary to provide fuel. It also needs centralized train control to help keep track of where trains are at all times. Going into the agency's command center in Jamaica, Nowakowski said, is like "going into the Dark Ages."

But those upgrades are years away, and MTA board member Ira Greenberg said that what really annoyed riders was the lack of accurate information. "And that's not just this snowstorm," Greenberg said. "That's been going on for years." .............(more)

http://www.wnyc.org/story/lirrs-snowstorm-postmortem-we-need-better-technology-and-communication-skills/

[KamaAina]

1. Ah yes, the "Wrong Island Fail Road".