MTA moves forward with plans to install platform doors in three subway stations
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The MTA is moving ahead with construction on a new pilot program that is aimed to make the subways much safer.
This plan is all part of a $100 million project to install sliding screen doors in as many as three subway stations.
These barrier doors will be similar to the ones used on the JFK AirTrain, where they open and close only when the train is in the station.
Last year, 88 people were killed on the tracks. Some, because they jumped. Others, because they slipped. And then there are others, like Michelle Go, who were pushed.
Just last month, Emine Ozsoy was paralyzed and nearly killed after she was shoved into a moving train in the Upper East Side.
The plan to move ahead on these platform doors was met with positive reactions from subway riders.
"I think it's wonderful," said one rider to Eyewitness News reporter N.J. Burkett.
There are 472 stations in the New York City Transit System, but just 128 where platform doors are feasible. On top of that, the cost is estimated at a whopping $6.5 to 7 billion dollars. That total is more than the cost to build the existed Second Avenue Subway.
More than three and half million people ride the subways every day. So far this year, according to the NYPD, three have been pushed onto the tracks.
Given the cost to just install these doors in just a handful of stations, the question surrounding whether or not this is a solid solution remains unclear.
"Riders deserve and need a much better system than we have today," said Danny Pearlstein of Riders Alliance.
"But our political leaders have to prioritize," he added.
The three stations that will be outfitted with these gates include the 7 train at Times Square as well as the L train at 3rd Avenue and the E train at Sutphin Boulevard/Archer Avenue in Queens.
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