T countdown clocks adding ‘stopped’ to their repertoire

The digital signs on platforms above the Red, Blue, and Orange lines will start telling commuters when a train is stopped rather than simply settling on a number of minutes before an arrival—and then never budging from that number even as the obviously stalled or otherwise delayed train fails to arrive.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is expected to launch the new feature on Tuesday, August 28. The launch will include the Mattapan trolley. The alerts—which are automated to keep them as close to real-time as possible—will roll out on Green Line platforms in the fall, the MBTA tells the Globe’s Steve Annear.

Incidentally, once a train labeled “Stopped” starts again, the digital sign will display a new estimated arrival time in minutes, one that reflects the stoppage’s time theft.

The change is one of a handful the MBTA has made recently to provide riders with more accurate information about arrivals.

• MBTA’s digital countdown clocks will now tell you if a train is ‘stopped’ and how far away it is [Globe]
• MBTA delay alerts embrace measurement by minutes instead of by adjectives [Curbed Boston]