Transportation leaders say ATO mode will ultimately lead to punctual service, smoother rides, safer travel by reducing the chance of human error, and energy savings by reducing speed fluctuations. ing. The introduction of automatic doors on the Red Line is the transit agency’s biggest step toward restoring automation to Metrorail in 14 years, and a technological advancement as the agency seeks to bring back riders during the pandemic. .
The new door system can reduce the time spent at each station by up to 15 seconds, thanks to built-in signals that tell the train which set of doors should be opened. Metro spokesman Ian Janetta said the feature is working on all models of rail cars and will be expanded system-wide in the coming weeks.
The use of automatic doors “removes human error from the process of operating train doors, making for safer and smoother travel,” Metro Chief Operations Officer Brian Dwyer said in a statement. . “Everyone who uses Metrorail has experienced standing in front of a door and waiting, wondering when it will open.”
This is Metro’s third attempt to restore automatic doors since 2019. Most recently, it will be introduced in January 2021. The short-lived switchover also took place at Red Line, but the regulator said it was halted due to “systemic issues.” Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.
No issues were reported with the latest deployment. Metro officials said they have been testing automatic doors during after-hours for months. The system has been run over 2,500 times with no safety issues.
The ATO is the transit agency’s latest service improvement as Metro looks to regain customers after the pandemic and remote work caused ridership to decline. Over the past year, Metro has added about 19 miles to the Silver Line, opened a station in Alexandria, retrofitted gates to address fare evasion, and added roaming customer service representatives and mental health crisis specialists. But all of this at the same time shortened train waiting times. Pandemic level.
Metrorail runs an average of about 400,000 trains a day on weekdays, with bus and rail ridership up 67% of pre-pandemic levels, Metro General Manager Randy Clark said. The ridership increase comes as Metro is expected to face a $750 million operating shortfall starting next summer due to changing commuting habits, ballooning labor costs and structural funding issues. Local leaders are working together on a plan to increase and stabilize transit system funding, but no concrete proposals have been made.
Transportation leaders said automation could save Metro up to $10 million a year.
Most modern rail systems, including the New York subway and the rail systems in San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, use self-driving trains on at least some lines.
Metrorail’s default mode has always been ATO. Train control had been automated since the system opened in 1976, but was disabled during an investigation into a fatal train accident in 2009.
The system did not return, even though multiple investigations found it did not play a role in the crash in northeast Washington that killed nine passengers and injured 80 others. Faulty sensors in Metro’s train detection system were blamed.
Metro has tried many times to revert to the ATO, but past efforts stalled for necessary reasons. infrastructure development and other Priority. Metro established in 2022 Office to restart ATO It’s an initiative the company calls Automation 2.0, which assigns engineers and technicians to transformations.
In March, the team announced that it was confident Metrorail could fully return to ATO by December. But the Safety Commission, the independent government agency that regulates the system, has raised concerns about the rapid pace of the project. Metro announced last month that it would delay its full ATO conversion by several months in order to take a phased approach, starting with the return of automatic doors.
The human train driver, who remains in the cab after the ATO switchover, still manually closes the door after ensuring that passengers are on board and there are no obstructions. Nicole Smith, 50, who lives in Montgomery County and regularly rides the Red Line from Glenmont to Prince George’s County, is happy about that.
“I would feel more at ease if an operator did it for me,” she says. “But I’m not against automation.”
red line first test automatic door, leaving the possibility of full automation later this year. Metro’s plans say other lines will follow similar steps, with automatic doors operating on trains early next year, with system-wide ATO implementation likely in the first quarter of 2024. . document.
Tiffany Minor, a spokeswoman for the safety commission, said Metro’s introduction of automatic door functionality is not yet permanent. The safety commission plans to certify Metro to use the feature more broadly. We review how the door works safely and whether Metro meets our own safety standards for automatic doors.
“this is, [safety commission] We have confirmed that the necessary safety certification activities are being carried out as promised below. [Metro]” Minor said.
Red Line passengers said faster doors would be more convenient While there was some improvement, most people didn’t expect a huge difference in ride quality.
Glenmont resident Phil Gordon, 43, is one of those who has noticed the railcar doors opening earlier, but is one to keep an eye on the progress.
“I don’t know if five seconds is really a big deal,” he said recently while riding a Red Line train at Fort Totten Station.
Joel Santana, 25, said he noticed several trains already opening their doors. A few seconds ago.
Santana said faster unloading and boarding systems mean they need to move faster. Get in. He said he couldn’t miss the train.
