All of these things are literally choices. We have the means as a society to solve most of our issues. We’ve simply decided that if it costs too much it’s not worth it. Meanwhile the Pentagon just failed five audits and can’t account for 60% of its budget. Citizens should be protesting in the streets over that alone, given how much we pay into with minimum accountability. But such is the numbness of the masses and therefore preventable tragedies will continue to happen.

It is a beautiful letter and I appreciate the genuine humanity of it. New York City should be safe for all those who call it home and its our responsibility as the citizenry to hold our elected officials accountable to making that happen.

If you want to see this vision become a reality, unfortunately it will be about politics. The MTA completed an extensive review of the subway system in 2019 with details on each station and what would need to happen to install platform screen doors. Nearly half the stations were deemed infeasible simply because of old elevated structures and ADA compliance (there are pictures in the report to confirm this). There is a pilot plan for 3 stations (7 train at 42nd, 3rd Ave on the L, Stuphin Blvd on the E). These stations are not the busiest in the system and happen to be some of the easiest to install PSDs on, because they have straight platforms, the lines only use one type of subway car, and the PSDs likely can be installed without violating ADA compliance.

In order for PSDs to be rolled out system wide, an active political push has to be made to:

• Either provide sufficient funding to the MTA to retrofit stations according to ADA standards when installing PSDs or waive those standards for the sake of PSDs. This will require federal support. The cost just for the stations that don't require retrofitting is still on the order of $5B to $10B for the 128 stations considered eligible.
• Standardize rolling stock on lines running mixed stock so that doors are always in the same place on the platform. This requires funding to accelerate the decomissioning of old cars (R44, R62, R68, etc) with new car orders. Tbh I doubt this could be done in under a year.
• Fund other safety measures that can alleviate the issue. For example, higher train frequency means less crowding on platforms. Installing Cameras/Sensors that can integrate with signaling systems to stop trains if
• There is a massive debate on the right way to address the unhoused (specifically the chronically unhoused) that I'd like to avoid wading into. Something obviously needs to happen there, but that's outside the scope of just transit.

"I don’t care how much it costs, saving lives is worth it". As others have brought up, as a society we have the money to fix this, we've just convinced ourselves it isn't worth the cost. Hearts and minds have to be changed. None of this is impossible, but will require actual time, effort, and execution. There are a number of transit oriented organizations locally, like the Rider's Alliance, which you can join to push this agenda. Additionally, you could try starting a specific organization around this project like others have done. It might be time for a "Friends of Platform Screen Doors". At the very least reach out to your representatives (local and federal) and demand change. It is as simple as ever to do so.

❤️👏

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