MTA tabs Collins Aerospace to help modernize subway

Fresh off Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio coming together to fix the subway system, the MTA has awarded Collins Aerospace a 53-month, $68 million contract to serve as the prime contractor for a transit information management modernization project.

The multi-phase project aims to help further modernize the New York City subway’s operations center. Collins plans to upgrade the existing manual system to an intelligence-based computer system in a state-of-the-art data facility that will influence how data is received, stored, and then used by the MTA. Then, staff will have consistent and timely information—such as specific train location and real-time status info—regarding service on the system’s lettered lines, which will be displayed on a 10-foot by 166-foot display at the operations center.

Collins, working from its new New York City offices, will also provide intelligent data analytics and management tools to monitor, analyze, and report on 17 service routes totaling more than 300 trains, 267 stations, and 141 miles of track to help keep operations running smoothly.

“We have worked alongside NYC Transit since the mid-1990s to solve the initial Canarsie L line communications-based train control deployment and the deployment of NYCT’s first operational train arrival countdown system on the L,” said Ken Schreder, Senior Director, Surface Transportation and Critical Infrastructure Systems, Collins Aerospace. “That knowledge, coupled with our vast experience in train control and intelligence-based systems across North America, will be very valuable in our execution of this project.”