i managed to catch a ride on one of the MTA’s fancy new trains with open gangways!
they were quite snazzy and functional—i saw many people standing in the gangway while it was more crowded and rode just fine in it myself.
besides the open gangways, the most useful improvement i saw was the intricate wayfinding information displayed at each stop: where to find which staircases/elevators relative to one’s position. this convinced me that replacing the LED textual stop information with general purpose screens really is worth it.
i saw these odd devices next to two of the doors (one on each side) on each car:
i really could not figure out what their purpose is, even after searching online. if you have any idea, please let me know!
hopefully they figure out a way to inspect between the cars so that it can run on the A as well.