Commuter Rail tracking

[Crispin Olson]

I know it's been mentioned here about "equipment sometimes not functional", but what I'm seeing is that vehicles that were tracking fine on the outbound, are "invisible" on the inbound. Is there some kind of equipment switch that a conductor or engineer is supposed to set in the lead car? Or something else? Is there a timeline for all this stuff to actually work how it should? 

Whilst I appreciate the MBTA is a looong way ahead of Amtrak (who make it nigh on impossible to programmatically get status) on this stuff, its all a bit far behind at this point as far as the Commuter rail goes. It all mirrors the lack of being able to use a Charlie Card on the CR.

[Developer at MBTA]

Hi there—thanks again for flagging tracking issues affecting the Commuter Rail.

The existing tracking technology requires a member of the onboard crew to access a panel in the train's control car and input every trip assignment, much as you suggested. The reliability of the existing hardware, coupled with occasional operational constraints, will at times result in trains not being tracked in real time.

As was noted, a program is underway to replace the AVL tracking system for the Commuter Rail fleet. The new hardware will be more resilient, and the system will operate in a more automated way not requiring an onboard input for every trip; this all will drastically decrease the number of trips that go untracked and the associated customer frustration. That new vehicle-tracking equipment is currently in its testing phase, with a full rollout expected this calendar year, however at this time a more precise timetable is not available.

Thank you
—Developer@MBTA

[Eric Hynds]

Hi - I've noticed that GPS has been particularly unreliable the past couple weeks, even moreso than usual. As I type this, only one of six in-progress trains on the Worcester line have working GPS.

Is the new vehicle-tracking equipment still on track to roll out this year? I'm curious what impact covid has had on the project, if any.

[Developer at MBTA]

Hi Eric,

Thank you for checking in on the status of the project! The new equipment is still being tested, and unfortunately we do not have a timeframe for when it will be available.

Thank you
—Developer@MBTA