The Metropolitan Transportation Authority unveiled a smartphone app on Friday that will provide real-time information on subway arrivals for six of the system's numbered lines and the 42nd Street shuttle.
The app, MTA Subway Time, which covers 156 stations on the No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 lines, will offer arrival estimates - to the minute - based on the same information used for the stations' popular countdown clocks above train platforms.
“Today is the day that generations of dreamers and futurists have waited for,†Joseph J. Lhota, the authority's chairman, said in a statement. “The days of rushing to a subway station only to find yourself waiting motionless in a state of uncertainty are coming to an end.â€
Initially available only for Apple products, including iPhones and iPads, and in a desktop version available online, the beta test version of the app can be downloaded free. The authority is leaving to private developers the production of apps for non-Apple hand-held devices.
Similar apps were already available for information on buses, Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains, and bridges and tunnels.
Perhaps most significantly, with the introduction of the app the authority has also agreed to provide a free live stream of arrival time data to app developers, which could lead to a spate of new services for riders in the coming months and years.
The technology was made possible by the authority's Automatic Train Supervision, which allows train dispatchers and managers to control train movement on the numbered lines using a more modern computer system. Installation of the program began in 1997 and was largely completed by 2008, at a total cost of $228 million.
Movements on the L line, which relies on a more advanced signaling system, called Communications Based Train Control, are expected to be available by app i n 6 to 12 months. The No. 7 train line is expected to be upgraded to the same signaling system by 2016, at which point its information will most likely be available by app.
For the rest of the subway system, though, the information gap is likely to persist. Officials said there was no timeline for details about most lettered lines to on an app.
The only certainty is that any change will happen after Mr. Lhota has left the authority. He announced last week that he was resigning his post, effective Dec. 31, to explore a candidacy for New York City mayor.
“Starting next week,†he said at a news conference on Friday, “I'm just going to be another regular customer.â€
