MTA On The Go! Travel Station Unveiled At Bowling Green: Helpful Or A Waste Of Money?

The MTA unveiled its new On the Go! Travel Station Monday. The interactive touch-screen that offers MTA travel information and a whole lot more – is up and running at the Bowling Green station.

According to an MTA press release, "The sleek, stainless steel enclosure supports a large screen with a colorful display, offering customers information about their entire trip, from planning with Trip Planner , real-time service status, escalator & elevator status and local neighborhood maps. In addition, the MTA has partnered with third party developers to include applications which provide additional information, such as local history, shopping and dining options nearby provided by third-party applications Zagat, myCitiapp, and History Bus."

It's all part of a pilot program that over the next few weeks will add the travel stations to four other subway hubs including Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal, Atlantic Avenue - Pacific St and Jackson Heights /Roosevelt Avenue (7, e, f, m, r).

The MTA has been making a concerted effort recently to improve the way they communicate with commuters. On Friday, they unveiled the Weekender--an online-only interactive map that shows weekend train delays and cancellations.

And although it's all well-intentioned, at least one straphanger thinks the On the Go! Travel Station is a bad idea.

"I think it's a waste of money. There's probably going to be a line for it, and a lot of people already do have smartphones," the subway rider told NY1. "And if you are really lost, there's always the map and there's always someone to ask. I don't see why we really have to get it."