Unacceptable

The MTA has said that it would take 40 years to complete upgrades of the entire subway system signaling systems.

Computerized signals are to eventually replace the electromechanical switches that have guided train movements for a century. The vulnerabilities of the older system were evident after a fire destroyed a signal relay room at the Chambers Street station in Lower Manhattan on Jan. 23.

The agency has proposed automating the No. 7 train and a segment of the F train by 2009. But computerizing the signals on the remaining lines could take until 2045, according to Michael A. Lombardi, the senior vice president for subways.

In the meantime, the agency has focused on modernizing the existing signal system - an effort that includes the installation of fire-retardant materials and devices to detect smoke, fire and intrusion.

Since 1982, Mr. Lombardi said, $2.4 billion has been spent to bring 75 percent of the signaling system to a state of "good repair"; the remainder is to be upgraded by 2020.

Since 1960, 158 of the 198 signal relay rooms across the subway system have been modernized, and an additional 13, including the one at Chambers Street, are to be upgraded by 2009, he said.

If this was a business, the CEO would be ousted for incompetence. There is absolutely no accountability for the MTA to do its stated duties, which is to run a safe transit system. Using equipment that is 100 years old, and which is dependent on two suppliers to obtain parts is a surefire disaster waiting to happen (pun intended). There are three main reasons that the system hasn't been modernized to this point. They are:

1) The MTA has tried modernizing the system in the past, but its capital budget has been raided on numerous occasions to handle daily operations, which robs Peter to pay Paul. Improvements cannot be done when there is no money budgeted for them, either from the state, city, or federal government.

1a) It's far sexier to have a ribbon cutting for a new subway station, new facility, or grand sweeping vision of tomorrow, than to say that the money is going for putting in new infrastructure equipment to replace outdated equipment. Since politics is central to the appropriations process, this has an impact on how money is allocated to projects. Thus, money goes to the 2d Avenue Subway project or West Side Access project, while existing infrastructure limps along.

2) Union opposition to modernization. The transit unions see the modernization as the first step to eliminating union jobs. So, the union bosses carp on the safety that comes with human operation and oversight of subways. The computerization of the L line has been repeatedly delayed because of union demands.

3) An acceptance of the system for what it is, rather than realizing what the system should be. By accepting the excuses of the MTA and union, riders have to be far more vocal in how the system should be run. As a first step, riders should be outraged over the way the MTA handled the Chambers Street fire and subsequent statements made by the MTA Chair.