New York City and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) have dealt with seven subway deaths this month, triggering discussions on how to improve safety, both above and underground.
The idea of installing doors along subway platforms have been tossed around but the MTA stated on Monday that such system could be expensive but did offer an alternative idea.
According to the New York Times, a public meeting at their Midtown headquarters had MTA officials confirming they are exploring the idea of safety doors that would interfere with people stepping onto the tracks before the train's arrival but also an "intrusion-detection technology" that would alert train conductors when a person is on the tracks.
The MTA is said to test a pilot program for the safety doors for the L line, which runs throughout 14 Street in Manhattan and heads to Canarsie in Brooklyn. Installing the doors throughout the system would cost approximately $1 billion, according to MTA Acting Executive Director and New York City Transit President Thomas Prendergast.
"If you look at it in terms of order of magnitude costs and what it would compete against in terms of other safety improvements, it's a difficult argument," said Prendergast.
As for the notification system for the train conductors, MTA officials are still debating on how to make it work.
"You can tie it to an alarm system, flashing lights, things of that nature, to warn people that there was somebody on the road bed," added Prendergast.
Last year, the trains struck 141 people last year, with 55 dead.
With most of the incident taking place in Manhattan, the borough president stated, "Too many people are dying in our subways. It is time to gain a deeper understanding of why this is happening with such regularity, and to explore possible preventative steps. Our subway system is one of the largest and most traveled in the world, but we must also make it the safest."
Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer noted that if the current rate of 2013 deaths continues, then New York City is expected to see 100 fatalities by the end of the year.
"These recent fatalities have created an almost palpable sense of apprehension among straphangers in our City," said Stringer. "I urge the Inspector General to conduct a comprehensive assessment of these issues, so that we can take intelligent, cost-effective steps to reduce these preventable deaths."
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