http://www.mta.info/countdwn_clocks.htm
As someone who makes the almost daily commute from Queens to Manhattan for work, nothing is more aggravating than having no idea whether or not the train is two seconds away, or if it left two seconds before I descended the steps onto the platform. This is aggravating, irritating, and causes me to be one of those millions of pedestrians who does the train-wait lean. You know what I'm talking about- you step so close to the platform that falling onto the infamous third rail actually passes through your mind as a possibility, you lean waaaaay over, you peer down the dark tunnel, and you will the train to appear. This is incredibly dangerous, but you're running late and you quite frankly don't give a damn. The MTA (Metro Transit Authority, New York) realizes this, though, and are taking steps to make things easier for you. You might have seen the countdown clocks in the subway stations. Maybe? No? They haven't all been put in yet, but according to the MTA website, these clocks that show when the next train is arriving, the number train, and its destination will be put into a projected 167 stops along the numbered train lines, as well as the N, Q, and R stations, by December of 2011. Get excited, guys! These tickers show you the trains, which track you need on multi-level stations, the ETA of the next two to four arrivals, whether it's local or express, and informs you of any delays or track changes.
Don't take any of the numbered trains? Don't worry- most of my commute involves the F, so I feel your pain. The MTA has proposed putting tickers in those in the near future, too- for now, they've just wired the clocks to signal when the train is coming. Still, they're improving every day- thank god for public transport.
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