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Re: Buford the Killer Trolley?
Author: BOB2
Date: 05-10-2012 - 07:06
Mook,
The PUC has weighed in on LRT pedestrian crossings, requiring warning lights with bells and pedestrian gates at stations with surface cross track access. This is a very different environment than most mainline commuter/intercity service, especially at stations.
LRT usually operates at lower speed entering and leaving surface stations, where these surface crossings are generally located, and are able to stop in a much shorter distanc. LRT does not operate in a mixed environment with highers speed commuter, intercity, and/or freight operations, often with skip stop, or no stopping at stations (freight), on lines with speeds permitted up to 79 or 90 mph.
There have been no cases in Los Angeles that I know of where we have killed or hurt anyone with a train at these protected crossings at LRT stations. LRT, like other rail, has killed a few trespassers, often walking down the middle of tracks wearing earphones, there is a phenomena of suicide by train (more common and certain on mainline than LRT), and for a while we did kill a fairly high number of drunk drivers (one Metro Transit Bureau Sheriff gave me the number of 85% for the Blue Line fatalities) who ran around gates and red traffic lights to pull in front of the train. So I'm just glad that these dangerous drunks chose to be killed by the train, rather than running a stop light and killing a minivan full of kids coming home from school or baseball practise?
Every year we kill nearly 5,000 pedestrians by car, many elderly or children, nearly half in traffic light controlled cross walks, or about ten times all "accidental" rail deaths, from all causes combined. And, I've noticed that almost nobody who comes to rail planning meetings to whine loudly about "train crossing safety" seem to give much of a rat's ass about that?
The PUC has weighed in on LRT pedestrian crossings, requiring warning lights with bells and pedestrian gates at stations with surface cross track access. This is a very different environment than most mainline commuter/intercity service, especially at stations.
LRT usually operates at lower speed entering and leaving surface stations, where these surface crossings are generally located, and are able to stop in a much shorter distanc. LRT does not operate in a mixed environment with highers speed commuter, intercity, and/or freight operations, often with skip stop, or no stopping at stations (freight), on lines with speeds permitted up to 79 or 90 mph.
There have been no cases in Los Angeles that I know of where we have killed or hurt anyone with a train at these protected crossings at LRT stations. LRT, like other rail, has killed a few trespassers, often walking down the middle of tracks wearing earphones, there is a phenomena of suicide by train (more common and certain on mainline than LRT), and for a while we did kill a fairly high number of drunk drivers (one Metro Transit Bureau Sheriff gave me the number of 85% for the Blue Line fatalities) who ran around gates and red traffic lights to pull in front of the train. So I'm just glad that these dangerous drunks chose to be killed by the train, rather than running a stop light and killing a minivan full of kids coming home from school or baseball practise?
Every year we kill nearly 5,000 pedestrians by car, many elderly or children, nearly half in traffic light controlled cross walks, or about ten times all "accidental" rail deaths, from all causes combined. And, I've noticed that almost nobody who comes to rail planning meetings to whine loudly about "train crossing safety" seem to give much of a rat's ass about that?
