Positive train control not the most important rail safety improvement

Dec 22

The deadly passenger rail crash in Washington State on December 18, 2017, appears to have been the result of excessive speed. This raises questions as to why positive train control that would have automatically slowed or stopped the train was not put in place along the recently upgraded rail line where the crash occurred. But, in a posting at newgeography.com on December 22, 2017, Randal O'Toole points out that safety improvements other than positive train control would actually have a greater effect on reducing injuries and deaths resulting from railway crashes. He notes that, " . . . Around 800 people die in railroad accidents a year. PTC would prevent only about 1 percent of these fatalities; far more would be saved by spending the same amount of money on better grade crossings and fencing of rail rights of way."

H. Pike Oliver

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, H. Pike Oliver has worked on real estate development strategies and master-planned communities since the early 1970s, including nearly eight years at the Irvine Company. He resided in the City of Irvine for five years in the 1980s and nine years in the 1990s.

As the founder and sole proprietor of URBANEXUS, Oliver works on advancing equitable and sustainable real estate development and natural lands management. He is also an affiliate instructor at the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington.

Early in his career, Oliver worked for public agencies, including the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research where he was a principal contributor to An Urban Strategy for California. Prior to relocating to Seattle in 2013, Oliver taught real estate development at Cornell University and directed the undergraduate program in urban and regional studies. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association and a founder and emeritus member of the California Planning Roundtable.

Oliver is a graduate of the urban studies and planning program at San Francisco State University and earned a master’s degree in urban planning at UCLA.

https://urbanexus.com

Positive train control not the most important rail safety improvement

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