Countdown Clocks Coming To The M Line Friday, MTA Says

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — Countdown clocks have been installed in M train subway stations in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan and will go live on Friday, according to the MTA.

M train stations between Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue in Queens, and Broadway Junction in Brooklyn have been fitted with clocks that will show, starting Friday, when the next train is expected to arrive, the MTA announced Wednesday.

New countdown clocks have also been added to W stations in Queens between Queensboro Plaza and Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard, the agency said.

The clocks use receptors to pick up signals from beacons on incoming trains and estimate how long it will take the train to reach the station, according to the MTA. Beacon technology is already in use on the C, E, G, and R lines.

As of Friday, 326 out of 472 subway stations — including 24 L train stations — will have been fitted with countdown clocks, said the MTA.

While MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota championed the initiative as “a vital part of our aggressive and immediate efforts to improve the customer experience,” New Yorkers repeatedly report on Twitter that the countdown clocks can be hard to find and are frequently out of service.

Nice to finally have countdown clocks for F train, but having only 1/platform is almost impossible to see & rather useless @NYGovCuomo @MTA pic.twitter.com/glAxyIjPvZ
— David Herman (@DHermanStudio) August 31, 2017

@MTA so glad you put in these SUPER helpful countdown clocks. It’s been like this ALL WEEKEND. pic.twitter.com/bT9exI23Ex
— Emily Buckingham (@EmBuckingham) September 24, 2017

In Bay Ridge, the MTA generously lets you use your imagination with countdown clocks. I like to pretend my train is 3 minutes away pic.twitter.com/9KDVPefFml
— Ross Barkan (@RossBarkan) September 22, 2017

The MTA expects to install them in all lettered line stations by the end of 2017.

Photo by Kathleen Culliton