Seattle Sound Transit to Add Smart Sensors to VT

In Seattle, new Sound Transit trains have recently been put into service with futuristic lights around the doors and windows where the lights change color to indicate different stages of the doors opening or closing, The Stranger reported on May 21. Sound Transit’s engineers plan to extend the smart sensor capability throughout the system with the installation of sensors that detect unexpected wobbles on elevators and escalators. According to the source, “a ‘Smart Step’ sensor in escalators will detect when the steps are shifting out of position before the whole apparatus grinds to a halt; and a new, more verbose reporting feature in the elevators will send alerts to engineers the moment they go down, rather than waiting for an elaborate game of telephone to play out.” These features are in addition to smart cameras on top of the trains to watch the wires, more lights on older trains and a new air filtration system for buses. These US$75-million innovations are a part of Sound Transit’s Innovation and Technology Fund approved by voters in 2016.