The Houston Chronicle‘s incurious transportation secretarial journalist posted a rather odd statistic on his chron.com blog at the start of 2014:
Of the 166 collisions on the line during the first decade, 66 of those happened in 2004 and 2005. Over the last three years, there have been 24, according to the National Transit Database, the clearinghouse of transit agency data and statistical reporting.
I had personally tracked 106 collisions by August 2005, so that figure of 66 collisions in 2004 and 2005 is clearly incorrect, and the figure of 166 total over a decade is hardly more believable. Of course, local media got bored with all of the collisions at some point, so we don’t actually have an accurate figure to cite authoritatively at the moment (that would require a public information request of METRO).
But we can say that the Chronicle reporting on what was dubbed the Danger Train because of all the crashes is simply not believable. The Chronicle secretarial journalist either misread the reported statistics, METRO under-reported its crashes, or something else went badly wrong with the process.
Kevin,
A good over under number for a “Bookie” on the number of Tram- Vehicle accidents is 600 from Jan 2004 through Dec 31, 2013.
METRO’s “budget” for Auto – Tram wrecks was Forty Three (43) for FY 2013.
Here’s some past METRO folly articles on the subject from 2008.
11/19/08 METRO And The City Of Houston To Roll Out Pilot Program To Curb Light-rail Accidents
Here’s the follow up Dec story:
Train Accidents Decline in Pilot Program
Thursday, December 18, 2008 12:55 PM
Assistant Police Chief Tim KellyIn the past 30 days, there have been no car/rail accidents caused by cars turning left downtown in front of a train.
That safety record is the result of a pilot program that ends this week and is a result of three factors, says Assistant Police Chief Tim Kelly of MPD.
“Education – the media attention to this effort helped to educate the driving public. Engineering – the signal timing changes implemented by the city of Houston. Enforcement – the dedicated police officers at six downtown intersections,” explained Kelly. “It is a combination of these three, and no one factor can be attributed solely to this accident reduction.”
Earlier, we wrote about how the city has worked closely with MPD to adjust the timing of traffic signals along the Red Line. The six test locations along Main Street are: St. Joseph, Franklin, Texas, Prairie, Preston and Congress.
The re-signaling has meant that METRORail gets a green light first, a few seconds before drivers get a green light to proceed. This permits the train to travel ahead of regular traffic at these intersections. Westbound and eastbound traffic has not been affected.
So far, this three-pronged approach is working.
By the end of this week, the police officers who have been deployed at the six downtown intersections will be reassigned, but “there will be continue to be dedicated police enforcement along Main Street to reinforce the positive changes we have made,” said Kelly.
The new signal timing will stay in place. The city and METRO will work closely together to determine if more traffic lights need to be adjusted to benefit the rest of the Red Line.
“All in all, this has been a very successful joint effort between the city and METRO to enhance public safety along the Red Line corridor,” said Kelly.
Posted by Mary Sit
Filed under: pilot program, train accidents, re-adjusted traffic light signals, left-turn accidents
I stopped tracking Meatreaux stats after I was routinely challenged by the overpaid (with our tax money) former TV anchor whenever I cited numbers I received from the Legal Dept made under the TX PIA. So, if I am wrong using Metreaux’s own data, the Orwellian police state has overwhelmed us.
The FTA has changed the reporting requirements so the Light Rail systems don’t have to report accidents unless, say the tram kills multiple people, or is derailed. Otherwise, no blood, no foul.