There are going to be accidents. I know a few people have been killed by DART rail trains. Pretty early on, a kid was struck by the train as he tried to cross the tracks. It's inevitable, but I don't think it's an inherent flaw in the design of the system. I would think, though, that being on the street level, you see more accidents like this one. You'd have to work harder to hit a DART train with your car (or to turn in front of one and have it hit you).
I don't have any data to back this up, but I would presume that train fatalities per passengers are much, much, MUCH lower than auto fatalities per passenger. Statistically speaking, cars are probably the unsafest way to get around (short of motorcycles or those ridiculous electric scooters!)
I wouldn't even necessarily bet on motorcycles being as high as cars. Most motorcycle riders have a lot of awareness of what is going on around them. I think that people should have to ride a motorcycle for a period of time before driving a car so that they can develop some road awareness. That's where I got mine.
What about light rail lines that run on the very same streets that are shared by cars? When the test run of the train produces a collision with a vehicle, you know that this entire project is going to needlessly endanger the community. Light rail will terrorize auto drivers and pedestrians alike for the foreseeable future.
There will be some accidents until the idiots on the road today begin looking for the trains, but as long as they follow the traffic signals, they will be OK. It will take some getting used to, as does any new system, but it will end up being considerably less dangerous, noisy, and polluting than automobiles are these days.
I hope the train doesn't kill like half the vistors here from the superbowl. That would really suck to see half of Realiant empty because they got hit by the out of control trains roaming freely through our streets. Our secret will then be out. Houston has an out of control train problem taking out its population. We will never get another event here again. They might even cancel the Baseball allstar game. I can just see the reports now, "The out of control trains are even roaming in the out field of Minute Maid Park. They have taken over such attractions as The Aquarium Downtown, and even the boardwalk in the tourist town of Kemah. They're all over, even one that has been constantly circling the theme park Astroworld. It must be Jesse Jakson's master plan to keep his puppets from dealing with the problem. He's already taken over liberal cities such as New York and Chicago, now he's going after the more conservative Bible belt. These trains must be stopped."
I don't see how the heck it could hit anything. It's going at 15 miles per hour. (Which also means it will be worthless for longer distances).
The Woman hit the train, not the other way around. She did something illegal and stupid, she crashed into the big shiny metal object. The train was not the problem. The dingbat reporter driving her jeep was the problem. I can tell you for a fact that the trains will go faster than I do in a wreck infested rush hour on 45.
Yeah I meant to imply that the train is going so slow that I don't see how she couldn't see it. Well, my commute is 20 miles. I go from Sugar Land to downtown Houston, I just go up 59. It takes me 45-50 minutes. At 15 miles per hour, it would be a little bit over an hour, not even taking into account the drive to the trainstop and the stops along the way.
Not only will it terrorize young children and make walking on the streets of Houston a treacherous endeavor, but light rail will also slow people's commute times, resulting in economic and transportation GRIDLOCK
Go to Amsterdam sometime. They have light rail that runs "in the streets", although where it runs is clearly marked. They have heavy rail for "the commuters in Sugarland" that runs part of the way underground in a part of the country below sea level. Really, some of you are so afraid of change. Would you be as afraid of zoning? That's another thing that gets Houstonians in a dither. (helped with the usual special interest money opposing it, of course) I think Gene's idea of elevated rail is a good one. Maybe you would be less worried if the train was overhead. Hopefully, when you drive your SUV into a supporting pylon, the thing won't come crashing down.
I am 100% opposed to zoning in Houston. One of the things that makes this city unique is that on Sunday, a citizen of the city can go to church, confess his sins, and then drive less than five minutes away, walk into one of the city's finest adult entertainment establishments, and start sinning all over again. This is something that makes Houston unique, and I want it to stay that way!!!!
one thing i can say about you and me, RMTex...we may not always agree on how to get there...but we sometimes agree on the destination! i agree...for wholly different reasons...but I agree it's what makes the city unique...and there are certain colorful areas of this city that would not have that color but for a lack of zoning.
Face it, TJ, you lost. You can either merge into another lane and get over it or hit the freeway on your way to a rail-free city. Either way, problem solved. You know, we have trains running through neighborhoods, along city streets, all over the place. If you aren't paying attention, there's a chance you'll get his. Big surprise.
Since T_J has declared his intention to move, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that San Francisco, while a comfortable city for Metro-sexuals (et alia), has MANY pesky forms of street trains, cable cars, and electric buses frustrating drivers at every turn. It is a really an INTOLERABLE place for luxury SUV drivers.
San Jose, Santa Clara, and Moutainview are all linked by light rail up and down the main streets. For example, North 1st St. in San Jose has a light rail train car running in between the north and southbound lanes. They are frequently used by the high-tech employees to get to work. So if you live in one of the many apartments in that area, simply hop on the train and head over to Cisco, Cypress, Yahoo, etc.
The fact that we're spending BILLIONS on these trains that run along the same roads that buses do and don't offer any substantial benefits over buses simply blows my mind. A train and a bus do the same thing - move people. One looks cool, the other doesn't, so spending BILLIONS on these trains makes sense?
In Houston, we don't have many apartments around where the rail will be. But maybe it will spur more growth inside the city. Then this rail could really be nice. Personally, I'd rather live closer to the inside rather than way out in the boring suburbs.
