By Philip Newman
Frustrated and bewildered at prospects for subway travel on weekends? At a loss to know what lines are or will be temporarily crippled by weekend maintenance and construction?
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it can help with The Weekender on mta.info.
“In order to keep our 24/7 subway system running reliably, we do an incredible amount of construction work on the subway every weekend,” said Thomas Prendergast, president of New York City Transit.
“This work is critical, but we also know that even the most veteran subway riders can be frustrated and confused when service is reconfigured and information is hard to find. That’s why we created The Weekender, which will revolutionize the way riders use the subway on the weekend.”
The centerpiece of The Weekender is a subway diagram displaying the service available on weekends, including service changes. Stations affected by service changes are highlighted by blinking symbols that straphangers click on when selecting ways to view the map:
• Service by Line: Click on a subway line to get a line diagram indicating an overview of the line’s service changes as well as text summaries of the changes
• Service by Borough: Click on a borough for information about any service changes in a borough
• Service by Station: Choose a station for details on any service changes affecting that station, or click on the map to zoom in to a detailed area
“With The Weekender, we are presenting weekend service diversion information in a visual way and an interactive way for the first time,” said Paul Fleuranges, senior director of corporate and internal communications at the MTA. “We’re very excited to introduce this new feature for our customers, but we also know it’s going to evolve over time. We hope people will share their experiences with us at mta.info or through Twitter or Facebook.”
The MTA has also introduced On the Go!, an interactive touchscreen offering MTA travel information in subway and commuter rail stations.
On the Go! travel stations are available as part of a pilot project at Penn Station (Long Island Rail Road), Grand Central Terminal (Metro-North Railroad), Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street in Brooklyn (Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 and D, N, Q and R), Roosevelt Avenue-Jackson Heights in Queens (No. 7, E, F, M and R) and Bowling Green in Manhattan (Nos. 4 and 5).
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-260-4536.
