Latest news with #subwaySafety
CBC
23-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
TTC backs away from platform edge door pilot project at Dundas station
Social Sharing The TTC is backing away from a pilot project that would see platform doors installed at Dundas station next year, saying it will instead ask a committee to consider the measure as part of its 2026 budget priorities. Platform edge doors are barriers and doors separating platforms from train tracks. When a train stops at a station, the doors open, allowing riders inside, and prevent people, animals and objects from falling onto the tracks. The TTC has been studying platform edge doors for years. The capital cost of a platform edge door system for Lines 1, 2 and 4 is estimated at $4.1 billion, according to a report that went to the TTC board at a meeting on Monday. The report says the average costs of the doors for two platforms at one station would be $44 million to $55 million. "Platform Edge Doors (PEDs) improve subway safety and service by preventing track access, thus reducing injuries, fatalities, staff trauma, and service disruptions," the report says. The board decided its strategic planning committee should look at the idea of platform edge doors and the estimated cost as part of next year's budget submission. WATCH | Breaking the silence about subway suicide: Breaking the silence about subway suicide 6 years ago Duration 13:27 At the meeting, the TTC board also decided that it will direct staff to look at the costs and benefits of "technically feasible options" to detect or discourage what the TTC calls "track-level intrusions" at subway stations. TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said intrusions are incidents in which "people are involved at track level and there's a delay to service, whether it be someone jumping down to retrieve a lost item or someone suffering a mental health episode." Doors 'very expensive undertaking,' chair says Coun. Jamaal Myers, chair of the board, moved a motion to delete a staff recommendation to launch the pilot project, saying platform edge doors would be a "very expensive undertaking at this point." Myers said there may be a less expensive option to the doors and the board needs more information. "As chair, I get the emails, probably once every couple of weeks, of priority one, of someone who has [died by] suicide on the tracks. Obviously, it's very tragic for their family and whoever has done it. But it's also incredibly traumatic for the employees who are driving the trains at this time," Myers said. "We do have an obligation to move forward with this and to make a decision and to see where this fits in the priorities of the TTC." According to the report, the pilot project would have helped to identify challenges in implementing the doors, including cost, risks, timing, constraints and feedback. "In addition, this will validate operations and maintenance impacts and generate public interest and support before planning and budgeting for the remaining stations across the system," the report says. 'I don't want this to be sidelined,' councillor says Coun. Josh Matlow, a board member, said during the debate that referring the item back to committee means the board is delaying a decision on the platform edge doors. "I get that we need to set priorities and we struggle between them, but I don't want this to die. I don't want this to just disappear. I don't want this to be sidelined. I don't want this to be studied into non-existence. And I fear that that's where we're going if we're just sending this off to a committee," Matlow said. Matlow said he would have liked the TTC to proceed with a pilot project at a station. "I'd like it to eventually roll out to many more where the data demonstrates that we are having the most issues with trespassing," he added.
Fox News
24-05-2025
- Fox News
Fox News AI Newsletter: Expert warns just 20 cloud images can make an AI deepfake video of your child
Welcome to Fox News' Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements. IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER:- Peek-a-boo, big tech sees you: Expert warns just 20 cloud images can make an AI deepfake video of your child- 5 AI terms you keep hearing and what they actually mean- AI to monitor NYC subway safety as crime concerns rise DEEPFAKE DANGERS: Parents love capturing their kids' big moments, from first steps to birthday candles. But a new study out of the U.K. shows many of those treasured images may be scanned, analyzed and turned into data by cloud storage services, and nearly half of parents don't even realize it. AI DECODED: Whether it's powering your phone's autocorrect or helping someone create a new recipe with a few words, artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere right now. But if you're still nodding along when someone mentions "neural networks" or "generative AI," you're not alone. BIG BROTHER TECH: New York City's subway system is testing artificial intelligence to boost security and reduce crime. Michael Kemper, a 33-year NYPD veteran and the chief security officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which is the largest transit agency in the United States, is leading the rollout of AI software designed to spot suspicious behavior as it happens. WORLD CLASS: First lady Melania Trump is launching an audiobook of her memoir using artificial intelligence (AI) audio technology in multiple languages, Fox News Digital has learned. EXTREME ROBODOG: What really sets the Lynx M20 apart is its use of advanced artificial intelligence. The robot is equipped with AI motion-control algorithms that allow it to autonomously perceive and adapt to its environment, adjusting its posture and gait to handle everything from rocky trails to debris-strewn ruins. PARENTS' NIGHTMARE: A Connecticut teen will stand trial Monday for the 2022 murder of a Fairfield Prep lacrosse player following a booze-fueled house party and a spat between students from different schools. FOLLOW FOX NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA FacebookInstagramYouTubeXLinkedIn SIGN UP FOR OUR OTHER NEWSLETTERS Fox News FirstFox News OpinionFox News LifestyleFox News Health DOWNLOAD OUR APPS Fox NewsFox BusinessFox WeatherFox SportsTubi WATCH FOX NEWS ONLINE STREAM FOX NATION Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future with Fox News here.
Fast Company
19-05-2025
- Fast Company
This simple change could make NYC's subway feel safer
In recent months, the New York City subway system has seen a string of shocking and deadly incidents of violence, including several passengers who have been shoved from the platform into the paths of moving trains. A recent report finds that misdemeanor and felony assaults within the subway system have tripled since 2009. For everyday riders and visitors alike, there is now a lurking fear that their next trip on the subway could be dangerous. Many, including the governor of New York, are seeking solutions, which range from adding more police presence to increasing surveillance to installing more lighting to combatting fare evasion. But there's another approach that could go a long way to improving security and safety in the subway system. Through specific and targeted design interventions, the subway system itself could be retrofitted to reduce violent crime. This is one of the conclusions of What To Do (and Not To Do) About Subway Safety, a new set of policy recommendations from the urban policy journal Vital City. Based on input and research from criminologists, behavioral scientists, transit experts, and policy wonks, the recommendations include focusing on mental health and substance abuse among users of the system, increasing access to social workers, and using police forces more strategically. Claire Weisz, cofounder of the architecture and design studio WXY, contributed to the report with ideas for design interventions that could increase a sense of security and comfort for subway riders. These design ideas include improving sight lines within the system's underground stations, increasing visibility between passengers, and reducing dead ends and other areas that can isolate people. Rather than calling for a wide scale and expensive investment in safety infrastructure like Japanese-style platform barriers, the design ideas proposed here are lower lift interventions. The standout design idea from Weisz and WXY is the addition of highly reflective surfaces throughout subway stations. Lining ceilings, walls, and even the areas right above the edge of the platform, these shiny surfaces passively increase visibility, spatial awareness, and navigation within the sometimes circuitous underground world of a subway station. 'Mirrors or mirror-like surfaces, which could be stainless steel, in the right places can actually help people see around columns, see down hallways, see around corners, but also get a sense that I'm getting closer towards an exit, or I'm getting farther away, or here's where a platform is,' Weisz says. 'Right now, there isn't kind of intuitive wayfinding.' Reflective surfaces can also increase a sense of security. Directly influenced by the violent shoving incidents that have been happening in recent months, the subway design interventions feature a curved reflective surface just overhead of the tracks, called a soffit. This gives people standing and waiting for trains the ability to catch glimpses of their surroundings without having to look behind their backs. 'When you're standing and waiting for the subway, you can see other people,' Weisz says. The soffit also visually tightens the station interior, making it feel more compact. 'It closes down the space between the platform and the third rail on the tracks, so that you're not as open to the whole track.' The idea behind these reflective surfaces comes from the world of hotel design, Weisz says. Hotel hallways and elevators are commonly outfitted with mirrors that let people see themselves but also, perhaps subconsciously, understand that they are also going to be seen by others in this public place. It's a bit of social engineering informed by behavioral science that encourages more self-awareness and courteous behavior. The surfaces become like eyes on the platform. Adding these reflective surfaces could be a form of tactical design, improving conditions in subway stations without the need for a drastic and expensive redesign. But for a transit system with nearly 500 subway stations —and almost every one having a unique design—making widespread improvements will not be easy. 'Everything's expensive, but I do think a couple of pilots in stations that are complex would go a long way,' Weisz says. 'My hope is some of these discussions are going to bring money forth from philanthropy or from academia to do a couple of pilots that really get monitored and recorded to find out if this is changing how people feel in these spaces as they move through the subway.' Weisz acknowledges that while the shoving attacks that have been reported in the subway system are rare, they've created outsized impacts on riders' perceptions of safety within subway stations. To maintain the system's essential role in the functioning of the city, she argues, those perceptions of safety must be improved. 'Good design allows people to behave in a way that optimizes the use of public space in the system,' she says.
