I'm concerned about something I found while browsing the Project Agreement documents on the Region's Rapid Transit website.
It's no secret that collisions resulting in injuries or fatalities are the norm for Light Rail, since it operates on the same plane as other modes of urban transport, like walking, biking, or driving. When you have to share that same plane - the heaviest thing always wins. History shows this that every city that Light Rail rolls out in, shortly after, people start getting hurt or killed.
But I'm particularly alarmed by this statement, which repeats over and over and over in Schedule 15-2, Appendix Y, Traffic Control:
I read this as "let's do nothing and wait and see how many crashes happen, and then add signaling if it's over a certain threshold."
Surely, this cannot be?
I really think the Project Team should get going now on being proactive about coming up with a social media and video/TV campaign about rail safety and what's coming, what to watch out for, changes in behaviour around trains, etc. Here's an example, from Gold Coast's G:link project in Australia:
It's no secret that collisions resulting in injuries or fatalities are the norm for Light Rail, since it operates on the same plane as other modes of urban transport, like walking, biking, or driving. When you have to share that same plane - the heaviest thing always wins. History shows this that every city that Light Rail rolls out in, shortly after, people start getting hurt or killed.
But I'm particularly alarmed by this statement, which repeats over and over and over in Schedule 15-2, Appendix Y, Traffic Control:
I read this as "let's do nothing and wait and see how many crashes happen, and then add signaling if it's over a certain threshold."
Surely, this cannot be?
I really think the Project Team should get going now on being proactive about coming up with a social media and video/TV campaign about rail safety and what's coming, what to watch out for, changes in behaviour around trains, etc. Here's an example, from Gold Coast's G:link project in Australia: