Calgary Public Transit II

[MalcolmTucker]

People are still hit by trains all too often even with grade seperation and to a lesser extent platform doors.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

People are still hit by trains all too often even with grade seperation and to a lesser extent platform doors.

I can't recall a single incident of a person being hit by a train here in Shanghai in the time I've lived here, so there must be something to be said for the added safety of complete grade separation and platform screen doors.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by The Chemist

I can't recall a single incident of a person being hit by a train here in Shanghai in the time I've lived here, so there must be something to be said for the added safety of complete grade separation and platform screen doors.

Could also be an issue of what is picked up by media here versus there.

[MalcolmTucker]

Well, if there is no access, like if montreal had platform doors where none of the system is above ground including yards. But if there is a way, people will find it.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by suburbia

Could also be an issue of what is picked up by media here versus there.

I'm absolutely positive that this is it.

People I know from ... shall we say much more populous countries than ours like India and China always say the same thing to me when they read/watch news here: "why do you bother reporting on just a few deaths? There are plenty of other people still alive".

In Canada, it's national news if 5 people get stuck in a coal mine for a day or two. In China, that's called the 10am shift.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by The Chemist

I can't recall a single incident of a person being hit by a train here in Shanghai in the time I've lived here, so there must be something to be said for the added safety of complete grade separation and platform screen doors.

Perfectly safe until passengers leave the station and get whacked by a car outside.


There seems to be something about railways and accidents that results in all rationality heading for the nearest exit. Car accidents seldom get this kind of treatment, except of course for the type of car accident where the other vehicle is a train.

Just this morning on CBC Newsworld we got to hear about a train derailment in South Africa in which no one was killed. How many people died in Canada this morning in road accidents? If it was even one, then that's more than did so in the South African train derailment, yet that's the incident we get to hear about. And it probably goes without saying that even if Canada escaped a road death this morning, South Africa quite likely didn't - and we definitely won't be hearing about those.

How did we get so blasé about collisions and deaths related to cars and trucks, but so uptight about the far rarer ones involving trains (or for that matter ships and planes)?

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by Dado

Perfectly safe until passengers leave the station and get whacked by a car outside.


There seems to be something about railways and accidents that results in all rationality heading for the nearest exit. Car accidents seldom get this kind of treatment, except of course for the type of car accident where the other vehicle is a train.

Just this morning on CBC Newsworld we got to hear about a train derailment in South Africa in which no one was killed. How many people died in Canada this morning in road accidents? If it was even one, then that's more than did so in the South African train derailment, yet that's the incident we get to hear about. And it probably goes without saying that even if Canada escaped a road death this morning, South Africa quite likely didn't - and we definitely won't be hearing about those.

How did we get so blasé about collisions and deaths related to cars and trucks, but so uptight about the far rarer ones involving trains (or for that matter ships and planes)?

Rarity and Impact - Planes, Trains, & Ships have accidents far less frequently but the impact is far more severe generally (though the human survivability of these incidents is rising dramatically when the human is within the plane, train or ship). Where as car accidents are a regular occurrence, so regular in fact that no one pays any attention any more.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I'm absolutely positive that this is it.

People I know from ... shall we say much more populous countries than ours like India and China always say the same thing to me when they read/watch news here: "why do you bother reporting on just a few deaths? There are plenty of other people still alive".

In Canada, it's national news if 5 people get stuck in a coal mine for a day or two. In China, that's called the 10am shift.

I visited India about 15 years ago and would pick up a copy of their English language daily. I noted two things:
1. There was a box in the corner of the front page everyday that said variants of "10 unknown people were killed yesterday in various accidents", and that would be all you heard about that. I'm almost certain numerous more things would happen that were not even reported at that level.
2. There was propaganda galore. I was reading about Pakistan killing several Indian soldiers on a daily to weekly basis. I called home to ask if there were things going on that I should know and that could impact my travel (IE like war breaking loose) and it turned out that global news sources that my folks were tracking in Canada said it was actually a peaceful time across that border.

Sometimes makes me wonder if we get "hosed" by our media as well, perhaps in different ways.

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I'm absolutely positive that this is it.

People I know from ... shall we say much more populous countries than ours like India and China always say the same thing to me when they read/watch news here: "why do you bother reporting on just a few deaths? There are plenty of other people still alive".

In Canada, it's national news if 5 people get stuck in a coal mine for a day or two. In China, that's called the 10am shift.

Does the media here pick up on the roughly 3000 people that die each year in train accidents in mumbai alone?

It happens so frequently there, that it's not news anymore.

[RyLucky]

Originally Posted by freeweed

You DO see the news in Calgary, right?

While I agree with you in principle, I'm personally waiting for the typical safety over-reaction, where we'll install insurmountable gates to stop even one person from ever being close to a moving train.

Gates force you to take that extra second to look, so I'm OK with them. I wonder what the stats of train-pedestrian and train-vehicle incidents look like and how these compare to total car-car & car-pedestrian stats.

I know there are a few incidents with trains every year (for example, the SUV that ran a red into the train and stopped c-train service for 2 hours on saturday night), but these accidents seem so preventable that I find them hard to understand.

While tragic, there have been relatively few accidents involving pedestrians and c-trains. Dec 6, 2011, is the most recent and severe (I just did a quick google search) pedestrian incident. There was another incident last year but the man was able to move out of the way in time and survived. Both of these examples involved distracted people jaywalking while the signal was flashing.

[RyLucky]

I just remembered another close call that makes an interesting story. This happened around 2010 I believe. A woman had a seizure while waiting for the train at sunnyside and ended up on the tracks. Somebody thought quickly and jumped down to save her while someone else made emergency calls to warn the incoming trains to stop. Hero commuters.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by RyLucky

While tragic, there have been relatively few accidents involving pedestrians and c-trains. Dec 6, 2011, is the most recent and severe (I just did a quick google search) pedestrian incident. There was another incident last year but the man was able to move out of the way in time and survived. Both of these examples involved distracted people jaywalking while the signal was flashing.

I know they're fairly rare, but to see the public reaction (and the hours-long stoppages of the trains as a result) you'd think we're experiencing bloodbaths on a weekly basis.

If 2011 was the last real incident - wow. That means we made it through an entire Stampede without a train-drunk collision?? That would be a first in my time in Calgary.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by suburbia

Could also be an issue of what is picked up by media here versus there.

Certainly the media here doesn't report on a lot of things (for example, the murder-suicide that occurred in my residential district last year was completely unreported in the media), but in my experience Metro accidents generally do get reported on - if only because of the inconvenience and massive pileups of passengers in stations on the affected line(s).

[floobie]

So, I don't know if anyone else has Calgary Transit Twitter notifications on one of their devices, but I have to say: The amount of 🞵🞵🞵🞵 breaking down lately has been... well... high. It's as if, twice a week, a train is broken down somewhere, and is backing everything up. At least, according to the twitter account. I've generally been able to avoid these delays myself (once leaving downtown by about 2 minutes!). But, what's the deal? I don't remember it being this frequent as previous winters. Are the old trains really just that unreliable? Is it always like this in winter, and was I just oblivious to it until now?

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by floobie

So, I don't know if anyone else has Calgary Transit Twitter notifications on one of their devices, but I have to say: The amount of 🞵🞵🞵🞵 breaking down lately has been... well... high. It's as if, twice a week, a train is broken down somewhere, and is backing everything up. At least, according to the twitter account. I've generally been able to avoid these delays myself (once leaving downtown by about 2 minutes!). But, what's the deal? I don't remember it being this frequent as previous winters. Are the old trains really just that unreliable? Is it always like this in winter, and was I just oblivious to it until now?

I want to say that you're just noticing it for some reason, because I haven't seen any uptick in problems. If anything, I've found this winter smoother than most other years.

But who knows. Maybe I've just been lucky. I don't know if a twice daily commute really amounts to much more than anecdotal evidence.

[Policy Wonk]

This reminds me of the eugenics by C-Train discussions around here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Muj1Sb6uA

[halifaxboyns]

I've noticed that their twitter tends to be proactive, more than reactive. So if there is a small glitch, they put the word out right away. But then it usually gets fixed relatively quickly (for the most part) and isn't a big problem.

That said, I have not found many issues with the c train over the past few months. Mainly because I walk most of the time or if it's a big grocery run, take my car.

What really bothers me is the City Hall station. I don't know if there was a lot of forethought to the fact that with the book end stations as a transfer point, people just dart across the street at any old time. They rush like crazy...I've seen a few near misses. I would love for a few cops to be stations at the major crosswalks for 2 weeks and see how many people get stopped for j-walking or crossing against the lights. That alone might pay for a new c-train line!

[MasterG]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

I've noticed that their twitter tends to be proactive, more than reactive. So if there is a small glitch, they put the word out right away. But then it usually gets fixed relatively quickly (for the most part) and isn't a big problem.

That said, I have not found many issues with the c train over the past few months. Mainly because I walk most of the time or if it's a big grocery run, take my car.

That is my experience as well. I think there is so many trains during peak hours that you only really notice if you are literally on the train that breaks down. The normal variations of train schedules masks any real delay issues. I.e. 10 min delay, then 3 trains in 6 mins after.

Only when some dummy gets hit at a crossing does the system really struggle when shuttles go in place.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

What really bothers me is the City Hall station. I don't know if there was a lot of forethought to the fact that with the book end stations as a transfer point, people just dart across the street at any old time. They rush like crazy...I've seen a few near misses. I would love for a few cops to be stations at the major crosswalks for 2 weeks and see how many people get stopped for j-walking or crossing against the lights. That alone might pay for a new c-train line!

I don't have much time for people who run in front of train vehicles but I have to admit that Calgary Transit did itself no favours when they designed this station. With a lack of a pedestrian walkway linking the two platforms, passengers needing to make a transfer often have to run across the street in order to avoid missing their connection.

If a pedestrian bridge is out of the question, I would love to see CT utilize pulsed transfers duing off-peak hours. Essentially, the Red Line train to Somerset should delays its departure and provide enough time for passengers arriving on the Blue line train to 69 Street to safely cross the tracks and make their connection.

[Stang]

^ I thought that the renderings had a nice, glass walkway between the two sides? Or was that just a +15 for the adjacent buildings?

And did it ever get built? I guess I need to go to City Hall more often.