A public awareness campaign on platform safety could be nearly as effective and much more affordable than a technological fix. (Photo via Second Ave. Sagas on Instagram)
The media furor over deaths caused by subways has died down a bit over the last few months, but every few weeks, the issue creeps back into the headlines. The TWU is still trying to convince the MTA to institute an efficiency-crippling 10-mph speed limit for trains as they pull into the station while the MTA is focusing on track intrusion-detection technology, a solution that can generally prevent many collisions other than suicides but has severe limitations. Still, I wonder about the costs and benefits of investing much money into a solution for something that isn’t a major problem.
A recent NY1 piece again piqued my curiosity in this topic. According to Jose Martinez’s report, “the MTA plans to test suitable track intrusion programs by the end of the year, with the goal of cutting back on the number of people who come into the path of trains.” (Already, the short-comings of such a system are obvious. It would do nothing to prevent collisions between trains and people leaning too far over the platform edge.)
It’s clear too from Martinez’s reporting that political pressure is driving this pilot program. In his piece, Queens Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr. claims that “high profile deaths…show the need for such a [detection] system.” If anything, high-profile deaths and random incidents further the point that bad policies and investments come out of knee-jerk reactions to one-off events. With that in mind, has 2013 been notably more deadly than in the past?
As of June 14 when the article was published, the MTA had reported 77 incidents with 29 deaths. Last year, by comparison, there were 141 train/person collisions and 55 deaths. If that rate continues through the year, we’re on pace for 170 incidents and 64 deaths. It’s an increase but not a significant one when you consider annual subway ridership is over 1.7 billion. We’re searching for a solution to something that’s hardly a problem.
Before the MTA invests serious money into any technology designed to prevent deaths, it must figure out how effective the technology will be and how many lives it can save. Jumping into this project willy-nilly because some politicians are riled up over news coverage will only create more problems than it will solve.
18 comments
Can we invest some time and money into roadway intrusion devices? I’m thinking turnpike-style gates over each crosswalk. After all, the number of pedestrians struck by vehicles on the streets of NYC dwarfs the number struck by subway trains.
A better idea, and one the DOT is already working toward, is to make streets safe for everyone who uses them. After all, no one belongs on the subway tracks but everyone has a right to be on a public street.
You’re never going to be able to stop last minute suicide attempts, but if there was some kind of system that flashed a warning light in the tunnel if someone was in the tracks, that would be a good thing, and can’t cost THAT much.
They have similar systems along highways in rural areas where there can be lots of deer or other wildlife…it’s like they have radar or some other kind of beams alongside the road at intervals, and if that beam is broken, lights flash for a couple minutes, alerting cars that there’s wildlife in the area.
If an intrusion detection system could be installed that would not be that costly and not create an number of false positives, it should be pursued. After all, supermarkets have had electric eyes to open doors since at least the 1960s. It’s really a question of how much things cost.
To the usual causes (suicide and substance abuses) and rare ones (suicides) we may add another one in the future — platform overcrowded due to breakdowns caused by deferred maintenace. It might be good to have something like this in place a few years after ongoing normal replacement stops.
The data – 55 fatalities in 141 train-meets-body events – illustrates how horribly unsuccessful subway suicide attempts can be. That should be the focus of a subway poster campaign.
“If you think you feel depressed before being hit by a train, imagine how bad you could feel after you’ve been hit and lived!”
Similar to anti-smoking campaigns, the MTA could find a poster person who was maimed by a train, and now is forced to live with the consequences of putting themselves on the tracks.
It might not prevent suicides per se, but at least people might rethink how they intend to kill themselves.
What you describe semes similar to recent antismoking PSA’s on TV & radio.
But not all of those 141 events (and the 55 deaths) are suicides – many of those will be people doing silly things like the young guy who died a few weeks ago trying to cross the tracks to get to the other platform or who jumped down to pick a dropped item up.
The issue is not suicides it is people being on the tracks when they should not be.
And before people mention platform / screen doors as a solution here in London other then the stations on the Jubilee line extension not one station has had these installed even when a station has been closed for complete refurbishment they have not been installed.
They are being installed on some of the new cross-rail stations though but these are all new build and will have straight platform edges edges.
The MTA really needs to invest in politition intrusion detection. After the amazing comments by Dianne Savino & other wackjobs, it is more than cost effective.
Good one, except that the MTA is indeed a political controlled and influenced entity, and therefore needs to be responsive to the politicians, good, bad or indifferent.
Yeah, I know. But you understood what I Ment.
If they cared about safety, their #1 concern would be making transit as efficient and attractive as possible.
The slowdown idea is just really asshole. It shows you the TWU leadership is more concerned about rent-seeking than people’s time.
I would think this program would be just as much about security as it is about safety. If such a system could stop someone from sneaking into a tunnel and planting an explosive device beneath the East River, that would be more of a benefit than protecting the life of a jumper. In fact, I’d bet that this is the underlying reason for the technology being evaluated, and the safety aspect is just a spin that’s been put on the project by a reporter.
The system would be absolutely useless for the purpose you describe.
You have a better chance of getting hit by a subway than dying in a terrorist attack. But, you know, FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR
I don’t think so. There are already security systems in place for this purpose.
As you say, knee-jerk. Where’s this type of response when people are killed by cars and trucks. My guess is that the frequency is much, much greater.
Where’s this type of response when people are killed by cars and trucks. My guess is that the frequency is much, much greater.
I think you know the answer. If the padestrian wasn’t there to begin with… AKA blame the victom, despite what the law says regarding who has the right of way. I’ve sene this a lot lately, have you? Curious.
One of the most basic problems with platforms is there is no simple way to alert anyone at the MTA that someone fell on to the tracks.
Cellular service is spotty, and the platform payphones are disappearing, meaning, dialing 911 is an unlikely solution. Even if connecting to 911 was possible, the operator would still have to connect to the MTA who in turn would need to connect to a dispatcher and then the train operator. All of that connecting probably means whoever is on the tracks ends up squished.
The alternative of informing the station agent might work in some stations, assuming you are familiar enough with a given station to know where the agent is. I use plenty of stations that I’ve never seen an agent or agent booth, and by the time I found one, again, guy on tracks is squished.
A simple, automatic, one button connection to a dispatcher who can identify the platform the call originates from might be an important addition to station platforms. There are plenty of examples of these sorts of systems — the old police and fire emergency alert systems for instance, or often college campus phone emergency systems. A well market, fool proof one botton call box would probably be one of the most useful ways of reducing accidental deaths.