Computer Voice to Herald Arrival of Subway Trains

Afraid to ride the subway alone at night?

You needn't be any longer, as the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has developed a plan to install an annunciator system that will allow commuters to await trains under the watchful and sensitive eyes of T employees.

Instead of waiting on subway platforms, late-night commuters can relax near the collectors' booths until a computer-synthesized voice announces the arrival of their train, said Vicente Carbona, public affairs officer for the MBTA. The system will be installed at approximately 30 stations, including Harvard, and is targeted at night travelers who "may not feel very safe being alone on a platform," said Carbona.

According to MBTA General Manager James F. O'Leary, the special emphasis on passenger safety, and this train annunciator system is a very important component." The subway group decided to install the system after a test site at the Red Line's Shawmut stop operated successfully for six years, said Carbona.

Commuters contacted yesterday said they think the plan is a good one. One T traveller said, "Subways are still forbidding places in many ways, and anything that can be done to make them more accessible is to be desired."

The annunciator will greet passengers in "a pleasing melodious voice," Carbona said, adding he did not yet know what the gender of the voice box would be.

The annunciator device is part of a package of technological improvements to be installed in the next year.