The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has awarded $14 million, 15-month contract to a joint venture of Humatics and Siemens Mobility to develop an interoperable Ultra-Wideband (UWB) specification “enabling competition, expanding the UWB ecosystem, and building the foundation for UWB to be used in revenue service” on the MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) rapid transit system as it transitions to communications based train control (CBTC).
Among the final duties that former MTA New York City Transit Vice President Network and Resignaling Pete Tomlin discharged before he left the agency following Andy Byford’s resignation as President was demonstrating an innovative piece of new technology—UWB (Ultra-Wide Band), wireless technology that offers faster and less-expensive installation of modern CBTC (communications-based train control) by eliminating much of the onboard and wayside equipment traditionally required for advanced-technology signaling. Tomlin—arguably one of the finest signaling and train control people on the planet—collaborated with suppliers Thales and Piper Networks in an impressive public demonstration of UWB.
