Skip to main content

New York’s MTA tests new safety technology on buses

As part of the MTA’s ongoing commitment to improving safety across all agencies and in coordination with New York City’s Vision Zero plan, MTA New York City Transit has begun to test new technologies aimed at improving safety for drivers, bus customers and pedestrians. The 60-day tests of pedestrian turn warning and collision avoidance systems will determine if a full pilot of one or both systems can proceed in 2016. NYC Transit’s Department of Buses is testing two systems on six buses: a pedestrian turn
October 5, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
As part of the MTA’s ongoing commitment to improving safety across all agencies and in coordination with New York City’s Vision Zero plan, MTA New York City Transit has begun to test new technologies aimed at improving safety for drivers, bus customers and pedestrians. The 60-day tests of pedestrian turn warning and collision avoidance systems will determine if a full pilot of one or both systems can proceed in 2016.

NYC Transit’s Department of Buses is testing two systems on six buses: a pedestrian turn warning system that issues an external audio warning when the bus is making a right or a left turn, and a smart sensor based technology designed to prevent forward and side collisions by alerting the bus operator with visual and auditory warnings.

A pedestrian turn warning system by 1015 Clever Devices has been installed on four buses. The system is triggered when the bus makes a turn, activating an external warning to nearby pedestrians or cyclists that the bus is turning. External speakers are installed in an area that does not block the bus operator’s view, and the speaker volume takes into consideration the ambient sound level in the vicinity of the bus.

The second test involves a collision avoidance system that is installed within view of the bus operator at the front of the bus. Multiple smart vision sensors manufactured by 4279 Mobileye are integrated with a driver interface manufactured by Rosco Vision Systems, to create the Mobileye Shield+ system. This system is installed in and around the bus to help detect the presence of vehicles and pedestrians in the front of the bus and pedestrians on both sides of the bus. The collision avoidance system alerts the bus operator prior to a potential collision without the need for bus operator input and continually measures distance and relative speeds of the bus and surrounding objects to evaluate the risk of a collision. When danger is imminent, visual and audible alerts warn the bus operator to make necessary corrections in sufficient time to avoid a collision.

“These initiatives are an integral part of our commitment to continually improve our safety performance,” said Darryl Irick, senior vice president, NYC Transit Department of Buses and president of MTA Bus. “Our safety efforts so far have reduced the number of collisions per million miles by as much as 46 per cent since 1988. But we are always aiming to do better, and we look forward to taking this commercially-available technology and seeing how we can put it to practical use on a larger scale under New York City operating conditions.”

Related Content

  • November 28, 2013
    Roadside infrastructure key to in-vehicle deployment
    The implementation of in-vehicle systems will require multilateral cooperation, as Honda’s Sue Bai explains to Colin Sowman. Vehicle manufacturers will shape the future direction of in-vehicle ITS systems, but they can’t do it on their own. So to find out what they see on the horizon, and the obstacles they face, ITS International spoke to Sue Bai, principal engineer in the Automobile Technology Research Department with Honda R&D Americas. Not only does she play an important role in Honda’s US-based ITS
  • March 4, 2014
    Mobileye partners with Accel on collision avoidance alerts
    The integration of Mobileye’s collision avoidance system with Accel’s Voyager connected car smartphone allows remote monitoring of Mobileye alerts transmitted via the Voyager 3G cellular connection. The companies said integrating Mobileye collision avoidance systems with Voyager is an elegant solution that adds an additional layer of driver safety via remote monitoring of Mobileye alerts. It allows both the driver and third parties such as fleet managers, to receive alerts in real time and providing to re
  • October 20, 2015
    Your Tesla Autopilot has arrived
    In a blog on its website, Tesla Motors, which since October 2014 has been equipping its Model S car with hardware such as a forward radar, forward camera, electric assist braking system, to allow for the incremental introduction of self-driving technology, has announced the release of Tesla version 7 software. Called Tesla Autopilot, it allows those tools to deliver a range of new active safety and convenience features, designed to work in conjunction with the automated driving capabilities already offered
  • February 6, 2015
    HGVs without safety equipment to be banned from London
    Britain’s first Safer Lorry Scheme, a London-wide ban on any lorry not fitted with safety equipment to protect cyclists and pedestrians, has been given the go ahead by the mayor, Transport for London (TfL) and London Councils. The scheme received 90 per cent support in a public consultation Traffic orders implementing the scheme are currently being published. Installation of road signs at the London boundary, training of police officers and information campaigns with drivers and hauliers have all started