a Killer - Part II
by Kim Pedersen
The signs don't always get the job done
for light rail.
It seems I really angered the trolley fans with my first "Killer" Editorial. One comment made was that I unfairly included all USA grade crossing deaths rather than just those of light rail. I can see how this may be taken as unfair, but the point was to highlight the danger of all rail with grade crossings. Nevertheless, I have decided to try again, this time with light rail statistics alone. Fair enough? I bring you numbers from the California Public Utilities Commission...
| California Light Rail Deaths - 1998 (X = each death) |
the entire World's Monorail
Deaths - 1998 (blank space = perfect safety record) |
|
| XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XX |
Death isn't the only unfortunate result of light rail accidents. Injuries abound and entire systems come to a grinding halt when there is an incident. Service interruption equals an unreliable mode of transit, versus monorails often-achieved 99.9% reliability. Here are further statistics from California in 1998...
| California Light Rail System | Number of Accidents | Killed (real people) |
Injured (real people) |
| LA Metro Blue Line | 14 | 8 | 5 |
| Sacramento | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| San Diego Trolley | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Santa Clara Valley | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| San Francisco | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Totals | 38 | 17 | 19 |
Even the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority admits that light rail "introduces the potential for collisions to occur between motorists, pedestrians or bicyclists and the train." According to an article in the LA Times, the MTA pays local police tens of millions of dollars to patrol the Blue Line tracks and finances special motorcycle enforcement teams to catch motorists driving through signals or pedestrians running through them. Wow, that sure has helped, they still have the worst accident rate in the state! What an incredible waste of money and manpower. And to think they could have easily selected a safer, faster and more efficient choice...monorail.
For those who accuse us of being unprofessional with our attacks on light rail, I challenge you prove the above statistics wrong. I ask you, how can you back such a dangerous mode of transit? I personally am glad I'm not a "professional" who earns money off of light rail. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
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