A Look at the NYC Subway's Archaic Signal System 105
New York City's subway system continues to operate largely on analog signal technology installed nearly a century ago, with 85% of the network still relying on mechanical equipment that requires constant human intervention. The outdated system causes approximately 4,000 train delays monthly and represents a technological time capsule in America's largest mass transit system.
Deep inside Brooklyn's Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, transit worker Dyanesha Pryor operates a hulking machine the size of a grand piano by manipulating 24 metal levers that control nearby trains. Each command requires a precise sequence of movements, punctuated by metallic clanking as levers slam into place. When Pryor needs to step away, even for a bathroom break, express service must be rerouted until she returns, forcing all trains onto local tracks.
The antiquated "fixed block" signaling divides tracks into approximately 1,000-foot sections. When a train occupies a block, it cuts off electrical current, providing only a general position rather than precise location data. This imprecision requires maintaining buffer zones between trains, significantly limiting capacity as ridership has grown. Maintenance challenges are also piling up, writes the New York Times. Hundreds of cloth-wrapped wires -- rather than modern rubber insulation -- fill back rooms and are prone to failure. When equipment breaks, replacements often must be custom-made in MTA workshops, as many components have been discontinued for decades.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has begun replacing this system with communications-based train control (C.B.T.C.), which uses computers and wireless technology to monitor trains' exact locations. Routes already converted to C.B.T.C., including the L line (2006) and 7 line (2018), consistently show the best on-time performance. However, the $25 million per-mile upgrade program faces uncertain funding after the Trump administration threatened to kill New York's congestion pricing plan, which would provide $3 billion for signal modernization.
Deep inside Brooklyn's Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, transit worker Dyanesha Pryor operates a hulking machine the size of a grand piano by manipulating 24 metal levers that control nearby trains. Each command requires a precise sequence of movements, punctuated by metallic clanking as levers slam into place. When Pryor needs to step away, even for a bathroom break, express service must be rerouted until she returns, forcing all trains onto local tracks.
The antiquated "fixed block" signaling divides tracks into approximately 1,000-foot sections. When a train occupies a block, it cuts off electrical current, providing only a general position rather than precise location data. This imprecision requires maintaining buffer zones between trains, significantly limiting capacity as ridership has grown. Maintenance challenges are also piling up, writes the New York Times. Hundreds of cloth-wrapped wires -- rather than modern rubber insulation -- fill back rooms and are prone to failure. When equipment breaks, replacements often must be custom-made in MTA workshops, as many components have been discontinued for decades.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has begun replacing this system with communications-based train control (C.B.T.C.), which uses computers and wireless technology to monitor trains' exact locations. Routes already converted to C.B.T.C., including the L line (2006) and 7 line (2018), consistently show the best on-time performance. However, the $25 million per-mile upgrade program faces uncertain funding after the Trump administration threatened to kill New York's congestion pricing plan, which would provide $3 billion for signal modernization.
Re:Trump cutting it off (Score:5, Insightful)
Then you should be apoplectic that Trump would try and stop the congestion tax. You don't live there so why does it matter what they decide to do?
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Actually, a strong centralized government throwing its weight around is a good thing, or so I was reliably told right here on Slashdot. Come to think of if it that guy is probably a libertarian now.
Re:Trump cutting it off (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, I support Federal funds being used to support transit systems across the US because the success of our cities translates to the entire nation, especially NYC which contributes over $1T to US GDP.
The correct way to decide what gets funded is written in the Constitution, through Congressional legislation. If someone does not want to fund NYC you make your case in the budget bill and do your funding.
Now when NY passed the congestion tax law the Federal gov is within their rights to contest that as being illegal or some sort, that's their right. They are making that case, just not doing a very good job of it.
Federal memo leaked in court filing admits weak legal strategy in NYC congestion pricing case [fox5ny.com]
I get you have to learn how the interplay of state and federal systems works.
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... Trump's DEI hires ...
Hard to take you seriously when you say such foolish things. Thankfully his administration is removing such foolishness from government practices.
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So in your opinion Pete Hegseth is the currently most qualified American citizen to be Secretary of Defense? No other person, or even Republican, is more qualified for that position?
Is he more qualified than Lloyd Austin? Is he more qualified than Jim Mattis? How?
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So in your opinion Pete Hegseth is the currently most qualified American citizen to be Secretary of Defense? No other person, or even Republican, is more qualified for that position?
Which letter in DEI applies to Hegseth?
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Is this a real question? Your teacher didn't rap your knuckles enough, read the question, think about it real hard and then try again.
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I for inclusion. He's included in the cabinet for being a yes man and loyal stooge.
what? (Score:2, Informative)
Please tell how Pete Hegesh is a "DEI" hire. You know that phase has meaning, right? Like, Joe Biden said in advance that he was going to pick a female VP, and then after the George Floyd death that was revised to saying he would pick a black lady. Hence, Kamala Harris was specifically picked for her race and gender. Hence, Kamala Harris is a DEI hire.
If Pete Hegseth were being hired into the Wu Tang Clan or Earth Wind and Fire, yes he would be a DEI candidate, but he was not a fucking DEI candidate for sec
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DEI = black people, got it. Thank you for clarifying the conservative position.
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Is DEI not about hiring unqualified people?
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Is DEI not about hiring unqualified people?
Not necessarily. But it does utilize some identity politics with some people having preference over others, that is not based on merit.
Which is to say, a person that fits the DEI mantra might be the best person for the job. But being the best person for the job isn't as important.
In irony, where I'm at now, there are many women and people of other skin colors. They tend to be quite competent. They were hired on merit.
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Sure but defining "merit" is something that has some areas of objectivity (education, direct experience) and some that is totally subjective (lived experience, upbringing, social skills). In that lens a "qualified" candidate has a mix of all those the employer wants, and lived experience can be tied to race or social class. All that can also be tied into the current makeup of the company hiring as well.
So objective merit is important, but it isn't everything and it never, ever has been.
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Sure but defining "merit" is something that has some areas of objectivity (education, direct experience) and some that is totally subjective (lived experience, upbringing, social skills). In that lens a "qualified" candidate has a mix of all those the employer wants, and lived experience can be tied to race or social class. All that can also be tied into the current makeup of the company hiring as well.
So objective merit is important, but it isn't everything and it never, ever has been.
It is much easier to hire a person because of some physical characteristic, is it not? If a person is a particular skin color, has a vagina, or identifies as somthing that tick of the checkbox - you just rubber stamp it, and the workplace is now better than if actual ability is a metric.
Since a man is at the moment, a woman if he says he is, the whole system of preferential hiring on non job related metrics means I can identify as a woman, an Ugly - foot a woman - 6 foot tall hairy muscular 250 pound wo
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The first I doubt happens anywhere close to enough to be statically relevant and I have not seen that borne out in any evidence that the people hired were un-qualified (that doesn't mean they were the most qualified, just that they met the job requirements). There's always something else besides those characteristics. That might be a starting point but that's all.
The second is again, mountains from molehills, we are talking about people So who ya gonna hire, Me, or someone you know little about, has a ma
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I butchered the formatting. I meant to say to #2 is that trans people are like less than 1% of the population and again, lets be real, the unspoken (or spoken) judgement on trans people is "can you pass". If you can then maybe you dont even notice eh? But if you walk in as you described and say you're a women then these places right wingers imagine as they bow down to every self identified person is a conservative fever dream. It doesn't happen outside the narrowest slice of the pie. It's memes.
In 99% o
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The first I doubt happens anywhere close to enough to be statically relevant and I have not seen that borne out in any evidence that the people hired were un-qualified (that doesn't mean they were the most qualified, just that they met the job requirements). There's always something else besides those characteristics. That might be a starting point but that's all.
I spent my career in a University environment. I have seen people hired for non merit reasons.
The second is again, mountains from molehills, we are talking about people So who ya gonna hire, Me, or someone you know little about, has a marginal skillset, but check off all the identity politics checkboxes?
Well lets be fucking real here and out on our actual hiring hats and just not meme out.
Have you ever been involved in the hiring process? I have. Certain groups have specific ways to be interviewed, and
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I butchered the formatting. I meant to say to #2 is that trans people are like less than 1% of the population and again, lets be real, the unspoken (or spoken) judgement on trans people is "can you pass". If you can then maybe you dont even notice eh?
Here's some info: https://williamsinstitute.law.... [ucla.edu] The hoopla is out of proportion to the numbers. But..
Trying to cast me as anti-trans, amirite? I have no issues with adults transitioning. I do have issues with children transitioning, as they are often dealing with the confusion of growing up, and adopt a more CIS role as adults, or deciding that rather than change sex, they are just gay.
But if you walk in as you described and say you're a women...
My point is not that anyone should walk into an interview spouting that they are a woman, it is that you can.
And it
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I am not casting you as anti-trans but your hypothetical of you bearded and hulked out and self identifying as a woman in some fantasy scenario that liberals will graciously offer you a job is a fever dream fantasy. I don't know if you are anti-trans, i dont know you, but that is an anti-trans argument you are presenting.
And it has been done. It is something that is definitely a problem for biological women, when actual men can do this.
I am sure it has, the question is are they legitimately trans and did they get the job on nothing else besides that fact. That's the evidence you need, not just "i heard it happens". Al
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As a person who believes race is a social construct, skin color is unimportant to me.
And the color is not important but what it represents is a stand-in for a lived experience. That's what the anti-DEI crowd denies exists, lived experience. It does not map out perfectly but we cannot lie and say that race has no bearing on anything. Social construct or not in America in history and today it has real world ramifications. That's all the "DEI" is acknowledging but that offends a certain class of people greatly even those people simply have been on the positive ends of the same thing.
Based
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I am not casting you as anti-trans but your hypothetical of you bearded and hulked out and self identifying as a woman in some fantasy scenario that liberals will graciously offer you a job is a fever dream fantasy. I don't know if you are anti-trans, i dont know you, but that is an anti-trans argument you are presenting.
You show the typical response to anyone not marching in lockstep, If I do not accept every situation the trans community demands, I am anti trans.
The far left is learning from the far right - do not deviate your opinion from what we tell you your opinion is.
That's why conservatives are still talking about the trans swimmer and the same couple examples for years now, because it's a very rare occurrence, this issue is nowhere near as widespread as people believe. This is Matt Walsh saying there are "millions" of kids on puberty blockers when the number is under 1000 per year.
I'm not Matt Walsh - so anyhow here are those same couple examples. The liars here https://womenssportspolicy.org... [womenssportspolicy.org]. As of September 2024, they’ve logged 5,149 males in women’s sports, and you can sort by sport, level, place, etc.
But
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You show the typical response to anyone not marching in lockstep, If I do not accept every situation the trans community demands, I am anti trans.
And that shows your lack of reading comprehension. You don't have to be a racist to make a racist argument or act racist, just like I *specifically said you are probably not anti-trans* but you are making their argument. Good day sir.
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Is DEI not about hiring unqualified people?
No. DEI is about hiring under qualified people for a specific reason. That reason being an agenda involving race, disability, various abnormal sexual proclivities, or other completely irrelevant DEI criteria.
Hegseth was hired because he was believed to be a yes man who would do whatever he was told, without question. It did not have anything to do with race, disability, various sexual proclivities or other completely irrelevant DEI indicators.
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Of course. Just the question is where the government is centralised. On policies that impact the nation we absolutely should centralise decision making at the national level. On the benefits of what happens to an individual city however the government should be centralised and localised around that city. The Feds should throw their weight around, where appropriate.
But that would require you to actually think about how things work instead of just applying some arbitrary comment you think you saw out of conte
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The congestion tax is mainly a way for NYC to get NJ to pay NYC's bloated expenses.
yes and no (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Trump cutting it off (Score:5, Insightful)
If you don't live in NY, you weren't paying for it. It was local money before.
He's meddling in local government and negatively impacting states rights.
If you don't understand an issue, and how it already didn't impact you, why would you take a position on it that opens you up to potential harm risk when future federal government decides they personally don't like something that impacts you?
Killing the local funding means more federal transit money likely will be needed...paid for by you. What did you think all the tariff increases raising costs on top of the higher taxes were for?
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If you don't live in NY, you weren't paying for it. It was local money before.
Really? It seems that TFS isn't quite correct, according to this [nytimes.com]. But then we all know that this is one of those MAGA mouthpieces that can't be trusted with the facts.
no (Score:1)
The DOT provides the MTA with subway funding for things like the second avenue subway. The DOT provides grants for projects nationwide and the MTA (being the largest metro system nationwide), not surprisingly, got a piece of that. The DOT is throwing its weight around to try to make the MTA bend to its will.
The money for positive train control is locally funded. The DOT did provide a LOAN (a small one, the total project will cost around $16 billion and the loan was less than a billion) for the positive tra
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Absolutely. I'm waiting for the day when cash cows like NYC stop sending money to the current idiots in Washington. If the West coast and New England seceded, the US would become a 3rd world country.
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You clearly don't understand what "third world" means.
Hint: it doesn't mean lawless shithole.
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Ahh yes, the "I got mine, fuck everyone else" mantra of the modern Republican Party. Because infrastructure improvements never brought along any additional value for anyone besides the users of that infrastructure, right?
I mean, I never drive on Interstate 95 because I live on the west coast, so it can fall into complete disrepair and collapse and that's not a problem for me, right? Or when a big ship loaded with shipping containers collapses a bridge in Baltimore so that nothing can actually get to the P
Re: Trump cutting it off (Score:1)
Please tell me what costs you were going to incur from congestion toll pricing in NYC.
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Is it really worth it at $25 million per mile? (Score:5, Informative)
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I would hope that by this point, with all the subway systems worldwide, that there would be some type of standard, so that manufacturers and suppliers are interchangeable. Or if not, you mandate that part of the contract is to give you the specs to be able to contract someone else to produce an alternative (with maybe a 10 year exclusive agreement to purchase from the original contract winner). There are ways to solve this.
Plus, the manufacturer would likely be using chips made using off the shelf component
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There is a standard - ETCS. But it is relatively recent and still quite uncommon.
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Yeah, but there are other, older "standards" with equipment available from multiple vendors. TPWS, ATP, GSM-R, ACSES, PZB, LZB, etc. all have multiple compatible implementations available.
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And that is the reason why ETCS is uncommon and will stay uncommon - the old stuff is entrenched and still works reasonably well and it is cheaper short term to repair the old stuff than to upgrade.
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It is sad to see but all to common if you don't have smart people at the top with the public good at heart.
Re:Is it really worth it at $25 million per mile? (Score:5, Interesting)
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You could replace pieces of it with more reliable pieces, whether you did or didn't use electronics, but it's probably not realistic to also make upgrades to the functionality at the same time. This system jams itself (literally) which is why they want to upgrade.
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The question is if this is a new problem, plenty of metro systems out in the world, how do they handle switching and new system and supply chains? Part of choosing suppliers for this is what the expected lifetime and support.
Ideally the systems are as much domestically sources as possible so even in the case of a future business failure the production can be picked up by someone else as it would be a critical supplier. This isn't a new problem, the military and government already have to deal with it
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Well, they said that they produce/reproduce many of the parts they need in house already....
Can' t get more domestic than that!!
Perhaps sticking as much as possible to using the old equipment would be a good plan then...?
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Huh? That doesn't answer the question of is this a new problem.
If anything it shows it is in fact not a new problem, at all.
If you want to keep the old system i want to hear zero out of any politicians or citizens about how much money the MTA needs injected into it every year to keep this old system operating and no more complaints about delays and downtime in America's largest city and 1/3 of the financial hubs of the planet.
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It appears that the outdated monitoring system is limiting capacity and reducing efficiency.
If an upgrade (and periodic tech refreshes) are necessary to meet transit demands, then what else can they do? This is far cheaper than digging new tunnels, assuming new tunnels are even possible.
If they implement a protocol that depends only on basic sensors and simple communication protocols, they could configure replacements cheaply as equipment reaches its end-of-sales or end-of-life age.
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The current system may be old, but they can make their own replacement parts. There is no way they can make their own wireless communication equipment when the supplier is no longer available. They will have to upgrade again. And again. And again each time a part becomes unobtainable.
The concept of obsolescence is a bit more complicated than that. Just because you can keep something running doesn't mean you should. Yes the system is currently operational. But is it efficient as can be? Is it as safe as can be? Objectively no for both of those. The signalling system currently used it causing trains to miss their timetables, limits the density of vehicles on the track, and is error prone and dependent on humans. There's material benefit to upgrading the equipment beyond just the thought o
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The $25 million per mile just for signalling must be wrong or an exaggeration.
The DC Metrorail cost about $1-$3 million per mile to build an entirely new railroad from scratch.
There's a lot of contractor grifting there on the NYC Subway.
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Why can't they make their own wireless communication equipment?
Look at the Flipper Zero and how many wireless protocols that thing can interact with, using just a single, flexible radio chip (Texas Instruments CC1101).
These wireless things are not magic, and replacing them with compatible but modern parts is well within the realms of possibility. They should be specifying that the protocol is made available to them anyway, on condition that it only be used once the manufacturer discontinues or the contract
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I don't understand this one... (Score:1)
Re:I don't understand this one... (Score:4, Informative)
The obvious answer is that it's revenge for the state of New York successfully prosecuting him [wikipedia.org].
Re: I don't understand this one... (Score:1)
It's not just Biden. He wants to undo the accomplishments of every President that came before him, including those who wrote the constitution.. and of course he wants to undo the constitution itself, which is also a problem.
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in city where he doesn't live?
He has interests there [wikipedia.org].
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And that doesn't even make sense rationally, one of the primary reasons to locate an office complex in midtown Manhattan is the accessibility provided by the transit system. It's one of the things that makes NYC real estate so valuable.
Re:I don't understand this one... (Score:4, Insightful)
He promised a "reign of terror", and he intends to deliver a "reign of terror". That means punishing anything and anyone he associates with his enemies; the punishment itself is the point. He wants people in the victimized organization to come crawling to him for mercy, at which point he has cemented his control over them; he can either grant mercy or deny their petitions, but either way the point is made that he alone is the one who determines the fate of their organization, at his whim, so they'd better do what he says, or else.
Re: I don't understand this one... (Score:2)
I can smell you piddling your pants from here.
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Can anyone tell me why Trump cares at all about congestion pricing in city where he doesn't live?
Are you serious?
Are you suggesting Trump should only care about what goes on in Washington, D.C., since that is where he lives?
Are you suggesting he has no legit interest in addressing the concerns of his constituents, some of whom live in NYC, and many others, who are directly or indirectly affected by costs associated with the congestion pricing being discussed?
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He's a small man, with a small brain. "Small" is his speciality
Airtags (Score:1)
Pretty sure the location issue can be fixed with a fairly cheap solution.
A bit of python and some Airtags and you've got a map of your trains. You could even spend $30 per train and know where the front and back were.
--
When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer. - Corrie Ten Boom
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A bit of python and some Airtags and you've got a map of your trains. You could even spend $30 per train and know where the front and back were.
Heh. Everybody would know where the train was 5-10 minutes ago. Useful!
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For this system its very useful. The NY Transit Authority would be 50% less behind with this data.
--
You can have data without information, but you cannot have information without data. - Daniel Keys Moran
Re: Airtags (Score:2)
Airtags depend on phones being able to locate themselves which depends on GPS and/or WiFi APs which broadcast SSID. So you forgot the part of your proposal where they install WiFi beacons along the track.
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So you forgot the part of your proposal where they install WiFi beacons along the track.
There are probably 5,000 things they forgot in their "proposal". Any time anyone comes up with a solution that involves commodity hardware like air tags, arduinos, or anything similar, it's pretty good guarantee that they've never been anywhere near a legit safety-critical control system. They installed Home Assistant and wired up a few ESP-Home based sensors and that worked, so why not scale it up?
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I have to admit, and I know you might find this shocking, but I was just being a wiseass.
I for one know what I don't know. I don't think that because I worked on a narrow gauge railroad and did some Arduinos and shit that I know how to handle subway automation, although I do have some thoughts about it. But mostly they are that I'm glad it's someone else's clearly shitty job.
Re: Airtags (Score:2)
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That was the impression I had, no offense taken.
Airtags, snort.
What they really ought to do is... just kidding
Needs some ... (Score:2)
Not that there's any logical reason for this. But it's the current fad now*. So let's get with it.
*I could have said blockchain. But that's so last decade.
Funds linked to Subway Safety (Score:2)
“Sean Duffy, the U.S. transportation secretary, demanded a long list of details about crime in the subway and on buses in New York.”
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Can we get a break down (Score:5, Insightful)
I would like to see an exact accounting of what exactly this $25 million covers.
I would hope the MTA can learn to negotiate a contract, they don't "have" to upgrade,they would like to, so they would insist that any product they buy (as in purchase, as in own), would come with mandatory right to repair, and full schematics if they need to replace some minor parts. However, the Governor of NY being anti right to repair, and destroying the legislation that was put forward would make sure this doesn't happen.
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Right to repair does not mean the ability to repair is the most efficient. Objectively we can see now that NYC's system is one of the most repairable there is. It's entirely managed in house. ... and it is crippling performance and hindering improvements. Obsolescence management and the ability to self control equipment isn't the be-all and end-all of procurement choices. There are many variables to consider. In fact in some case obsolescence can even be considered a good thing as it forces an upgrade which
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I don't know but I'd imagine that a lot of it is the cost of shutting down parts of the system to install gear and test it, running two systems in parallel until confidence is reached. Re-training and up-skilling to operate it, and maybe some redundancy money if they are reducing or replacing staff.
I used to know someone who worked on the British railways, and it was service suspensions and delays that cost the most money.
Congestion Pricing (Score:2)
the Trump administration threatened to kill New York's congestion pricing plan
Yep, NYC needs more pickup trucks on its roads...
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the Trump administration threatened to kill New York's congestion pricing plan
Yep, NYC needs more pickup trucks on its roads...
New Jersey sued New York to block the congestion pricing plan. https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroug... [ny1.com]
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New Jersey sued New York to block the congestion pricing plan.
This single sentence from that article seems to sum up that string of lawsuits: "We’re batting one thousand. We won every lawsuit in every procedural episode so far and we’ll take them as they come,” Lieber said on Friday. “Obviously, the New Jersey lawsuit has been unsuccessful at every stage."
One word: (Score:1)
MTA waste history (Score:5, Interesting)
NYC resident here. I think that the big issue is that the old mechanical signalling system has been an issue for decades, and that the MTA, even when it was flush, didn't prioritize it.
Hurricane Sandy took out several lines, and they claimed that they were going to upgrade to digital signalling as part of the restoration process. They didn't do it then.
The MTA, at one point, had an HR department that made up 25% of it's workforce (!). The history of waste, mismanagement, and misdirected resources is so damning that anything that they do should invite suspicion.
Increase the price (Score:3)
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Wouldn't those riders be the ones to benefit the most from trains being on-time?
No, their employers would be, or in the case of corporations, the shareholders. They pocket most of the proceeds from worker productivity.
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Nothing wrong with a price hike for improvements. The problem is that the MTA had the money before the pandemic, but spent it wastefully.
Competent technologists could... (Score:1)
...easily design a new, reliable system at a reasonable cost
But only if bureaucrats and profiteers didn't get involved
What happens instead is that bureaucrats waste a tremendous amount of time and money on paperwork before awarding the contract to a profiteer who sees the contract as a cash cow to be milked for every cent possible while hiring cheap, incompetent people to do the work
Still hard though. (Score:2)
...easily design a new, reliable system at a reasonable cost But only if bureaucrats and profiteers didn't get involved What happens instead is that bureaucrats waste a tremendous amount of time and money on paperwork before awarding the contract to a profiteer who sees the contract as a cash cow to be milked for every cent possible while hiring cheap, incompetent people to do the work
Endless subcontracting is indeed an issue but even if you get rid of that it's still a hard problem. The hard bit is actually doing it whilst keeping the system running. You really can't afford to get this wrong, get it wrong and trains go smack, people die. You can't really close lines for long periods of time without causing huge issues so it needs a lot of careful planning. In many ways it would be simpler to build a set of new lines than upgrades.
Lack of maintenance budgets (Score:2, Insightful)
The US builds a lot of infrastructure then cuts the maintenance budgets. The engineers knew those cloth wires weren't going to last forever, but some politician probably decided that as long as it lasts for one more election cycle, it would become someone else's problem. This happens with schools, nuclear power plants, sewers, etc.
This isn't about technology obsolescence: NY could replace the cloth-wrapped wires with new cloth-wrapped wires. But they can't just leave them to rot.
It's not an "analog" system... (Score:2)
Archaic analog (Score:2)
Resilience of new systems? (Score:1)
New York is the epitome of everything that's wrong (Score:2)
New York is the epitome of everything that's wrong with the west.
It is the epicenter of the occupation and exhibits everything all at once.
Look at the list of the 100 worst NYC landlords if you want to know who it is. Look it up, it's online and official.