Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) New York City (NYC) Transit has enhanced the visibility of the no-standing zone pilot program, designed to enhance the safety and security of subway conductors. During the week of Feb. 19, crews installed high-visibility, four-foot tall vertical stanchions made of flexible rubberized material on the portions of the platform at the 125 St. 4 5 6 station that are directly adjacent to the train conductor’s cabs. Personnel will observe the stanchions’ effectiveness at discouraging customers from standing in this area and on deterring attacks against subway conductors.
The pilot program will be monitored during the next few months and, once results from the pilot are determined, NYC Transit may install the stanchions in other stations.
“In some instances, the floor stripes faded and lost some of their visibility,” said NYC Transit SVP Subways Demetrius Crichlow. “We hope that adding additional visibility elements create a more well-defined zone of safety and security around our hard-working subway conductors to ensure they can do their work without fear of being attacked on the platform while they simply try to do their jobs.”
The installation is part of a larger effort by the MTA and NYC Transit to advance safety upgrades across the system using a combination of physical infrastructure and increased police presence in stations and on trains. During the week of Feb. 19, the MTA celebrated a new plan to convert all 150,000 light fixtures in the subway system to brighter, more illuminating LEDs, increasing safety in stations and on platforms. In January, NYC Transit installed platform barriers at the 191 St. 1 Station in Washington Heights to prevent track intrusions.
