Bronx Subway Countdown Clock Rollout Continues

Buhre Avenue subway stop countdown clock.

The countdown clock rollout along the MTA’s A Division stations continued this past weekend as two more stops along the 6 line in the Bronx are now enjoying the real-time train arrival message screens.

Buhre Ave. and Middletown Road, two lightly used stations along the IRT Pelham Line saw their PA/CIS systems activated on Friday.

With PA/CIS at these two stations now online, Transit has activated screens at seven of the 152 stations set to enjoy the new technology by the end of the first quarter of 2011. At numerous other stations throughout the system, the screens sit wrapped but unused as Transit continues to install the underlying software and accompanying communication systems. Officials at Transit say that PA/CIS will be activated at other stations not necessarily in the Bronx or along the 6 line as soon as everything is in place.

The new iteration of the countdown clocks features automated in-system announcements as well as screens in the fare control areas so that straphangers know how long they will have to wait before swiping in. Each screen features the next two trains to arrive and can be used to display and announce information related to service delays and emergency situations. For now, Transit has activated these clocks only at low-ridership stations, and Buhre Ave. and Middletown Road — the 367th and 405th most popular of the system’s 422 stops — fit that bill. I’m looking forward to seeing these debut at some of the more higher trafficked stations throughout the city.

Anyway, the photos come to me via New York City Transit, and the one below shows the clock at Middletown Road in the fare control area. As this system slowly comes online, New Yorkers can finally enjoy transit technology that others throughout the world have experienced for over a decade.