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Los Angeles will be the first US city to use subway body scanners
Los Angeles will be the first US city to start equipping its subways with body scanners. But the Southern California metropolis isn't using the bulky, slow-operating models that populate US airports: Instead, LA's Metropolitan Transit Authority will deploy portable trunk-sized scanners that can survey people from 30 feet away at a rate of 2,000 individuals an hour.
MTA app for iPhone offers New Yorkers real-time subway arrivals, a small dose of relief
Despite New York City virtually revolving around its mass transit system, local subway riders haven't had a way to check the next arrival in real-time, even though some smaller cities already take live transit details for granted. At least some harried commuters can assuage their minds now that the MTA has posted its Subway Time app for iOS users. The title does exactly what it says on the tin, taking advantage of MTA's signalling installations on the 1 through 6 lines (and the 42nd Street Shuttle) to determine train arrival times down to the minute. Subway Time won't satisfy certain travelers as-is: it doesn't provide directions, and the earliest expansion to additional routes won't happen until the L line's information is linked up in six to 12 months. Passengers running Android and Windows Phone will likewise have to wait for outside developers to finish their own projects. For those of us living in the right areas, however, Subway Time might take away some uncertainty -- even if it's just to confirm that we'll be late.
New York City braces for Tuesday's arrival of mobile service on subway platforms
It's hardly a natural disaster, but the landscape of Manhattan is about to change once again with the arrival of cellular signal to a handful of the borough's subway platforms. Both AT&T and T-Mobile are taking part in the pilot program, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority expects the service to begin rolling on Tuesday at several stations along the 14th Street corridor, including A, C, E, F, L and M, along with stops 1, 2 and 3. The 23rd Street line will also see part of the action, as coverage is expected for the C and E stations. Of course, straphangers are unlikely to receive signal once on-board the trains, as the tunnels themselves aren't included in this rollout. Currently, the MTA expects all 277 underground platforms to be equipped for mobile chatter by 2016. Transit Wireless, the company responsible for the expansion, is said to be in talks with Sprint and Verizon for a similar introduction, although its customers must be content to listen in on the conversations other commuters for the time being. [Image from SeanPavonePhoto/Shutterstock]
