Astoria Lawmaker Asks MTA To Translate Announcements

ASTORIA, QUEENS — An Astoria lawmaker is lobbying the MTA to translate its automated voice announcements.

Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas has asked the transit authority to introduce multilingual voice announcements on the subways, buses, LIRR and Metro-North Railroad. The recordings, which also play on station platforms, are all in English.

"Providing announcements in multiple languages would eliminate confusion amongst the many riders who benefit from our transit system and would allow our system to run more effectively," Simotas, who represents Astoria in the State Assembly, wrote in an April 16 letter to NYC Transit President Andy Byford.

Simotas called on the MTA to develop a plan for providing multilingual announcements, though she did not specify which languages she wants the MTA to adopt for its voice recordings. She noted in the letter that the city has 1.9 million Spanish speakers, 419,000 Cantonese and Mandarin speakers and 200,000 New Yorkers who converse in an Indic language like Hindi or Urdu.

An estimated 600 to 800 languages are spoken in New York, according to the nonprofit Endangered Language Alliance, and Queens is considered the most linguistically diverse place in the world.

"New York City is a melting pot oozing with culture and spirit and it is time that our transit system reflects that," Simotas said in a statement. "Now with new sources of revenue for the MTA capital plan lockbox and billions in additional financing support for MTA projects, it is the perfect time to finally create a multi-lingual transit system that better serves the riders."

The MTA has not responded to Simotas's request, a staffer told Patch on Monday.