MTA/YouTube New York City's subway system is so antiquated that MTA employees still track trains by hand.
New York City's subway system is $4 in the world, and it's come a long way since its $4.
In the past 100+ years, ridership on New York City's subway system has grown to about six million daily riders, and commuters can now get on and off at 472 stations throughout the four boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.
But in one significant way, the Metropolitan
The MTA reports that $4 over the last five years, and, $4, signal problems account for about 13% of all subway delays and are the second most common reason for weekday delays, after overcrowding.
Part of the problem is that the MTA subway system still operates using an antiquated signaling system called $4, which only allows MTA employees to see an imprecise location of where a train might be, and much of the technology that operates the trains is more than 100 years old.
While $4 to upgrade the signal system to a communications-based train control (CBTC) signaling system - a modern, computerized system that would reduce the space in between cars and allow trains to be stopped automatically - the upgrades can't come soon enough for many commuters.
And, unfortunately, due in large part to a lack of funding and the logistical nightmare it will cause to make these upgrades, at the rate things are going, New York City commuters may have to wait half a century to see the entire subway system upgraded, $4.
Here's a look inside the outdated system that commuters will have to live with in the meantime:
Graham Rapier contributed to a $4 of this article.