San Francisco’s Muni Metro light rail system, operated by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), continues to use 5.25-inch floppy disks to run its trains. This technology, which has been in use since 1998, is now considered outdated, but it remains a crucial part of the city’s train control system.
Every morning, SFMTA staff load software from three 5.25-inch floppy disks onto the computer that operates the train control system. When a train enters the subway, its onboard computer connects to the train control system to run the train in automatic mode, where the trains drive themselves while the operators supervise. When they exit the subway, they disconnect from the Automatic Train Control System (ATCS) and return to manual operation on the street.
However, the system is currently working just fine, but with each increasing year, the risk of data degradation on the floppy disks increases and that at some point there will be a catastrophic failure. The transportation agency claims that the ATCS had become harder and more expensive to maintain over time.
SFMTA has been planning an overhaul of the ATCS, including moving off floppy disks, since 2018. The project is expected to take a decade from initial planning to completion. Because of an 18-month-long COVID-19-related hiatus, completion is expected in 2029 to 2030.
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