[Houston] Trains' crash rate 25 times U.S. norm

MetroRail's crash total reached 36 on Wednesday after a driver in a Pontiac Grand Am turned into a train shortly before 5 p.m. near Reliant Park, then hit a sport utility vehicle.

With 26 collisions in the first quarter of 2004, MetroRail is on pace for 104 wrecks in its first year, which would represent a crash rate of 13.87 per route mile. That is 25 times the national average of 0.55, based on 2001 data the FTA collected from 17 cities operating light rail.

If Houston does tally 104 rail crashes this year, it would be almost double the number experienced recently in any other city. San Francisco, with 61 light rail wrecks, led the nation in 2001 (the last year for which FTA data is available).

When measured by number of miles traveled, Houston also stands out above the crowd. MetroRail's first-quarter crash rate is 16.9 per 100,000 train miles traveled. That is 24 times the national average of 0.7.

Greg Hull, director of operations, safety, and security for the American Public Transportation Association, noted the Houston numbers are high, but cautions against direct comparisons between light rail systems.

After Wednesday's wreck, Metro said the Grand Am driver, 26-year-old Yadira Bravo, was taken to a hospital. There were no reports of injuries to the driver of the Ford Expedition she struck or the estimated 50 passengers on the train, said Metro spokesman Ken Connaughton.

Train 112 was northbound approaching Reliant Park Station when the Grand Am, attempting to enter Reliant Park via Holly Hall, made a right turn from southbound Fannin Street into it, Connaughton said. Metropolitan Transit Authority police were trying to determine whether Bravo had ignored the "no right turn" sign that is supposed to illuminate as a train approaches the intersection. Still, Connaughton added, she should have seen the train because it was coming straight at her.

While Wednesday's crash gives yet another reason for MetroRail opponents to argue that buses would be a safer transit mode for the Main Street corridor, Hull said light rail nationally is safer than buses in numerous measurements. Light rail accounted for about 3.5 percent of transit trips in 2001, he said, but experienced 1.7 percent of transit incidents.

Statistics from the FTA's National Transit Database confirm Hull's assessment -- light rail is a much safer transportation mode than buses when compared by collisions per transit vehicle and number of miles traveled.

The data show light rail trains are involved in 0.37 crashes per year while transit buses in large cities experience 0.71 crashes per year. When it comes to miles traveled, light rail trains experienced 0.69 collisions per 100,000 miles while large-city buses had a rate of 1.79.

Houston's experience thus far has been the opposite, however, with rail much more dangerous than buses. So far this fiscal year Metro buses have had a crash rate of 0.89 per 100,000 miles -- lower than the national average -- while Metro trains' 16.9 crash rate is well above the norm.

"There is a learning curve associated with such a new system," he said. "The citizens of Houston need to familiarize themselves with safety related to both motorist and pedestrian interfaces with the rail system."

"There is a learning curve associated with such a new system," [Hull] said. "The citizens of Houston need to familiarize themselves with safety related to both motorist and pedestrian interfaces with the rail system."

Hull needs to look at the data that was published for the first 25 Wham-Bam-Tram crashes. Over a third of the drivers were from out-of-town. Some were from out-of-state. So, how is familiarizing the "citizens of Houston" with the rail system, supposed to prevent those out-of-towners from becomming victims of the Wham-Bam-Tram? Even if he could somehow, magically familarize every "citizen of Houston" with the Wham-Bam-Tram, to the degree that there were no longer any Houstonians involved in those crashes (an impossible scenario), the crash rate would still be around 9 times the national average.

There is a learning curve to deal with here, but it is not on the part of the driving public, as Hull suggests. The learning curve is, in fact, limited to the officers and engineers of Metro. One has to wonder how long it will take them to learn what the rest of Houston already knows - that the Wham-Bam-Tram is a total failure.

Greg Hull, director of operations, safety, and security for the American Public Transportation Association, noted the Houston numbers are high, but cautions against direct comparisons between light rail systems.

Duh! At a crash rate 25 times greater than average, there is no direct comparisson. No other light rail system, anywhere in the country, is even in the same league with the Wham-Bam-Tram. It has set a new standard for engineering incompetence. Is there any wonder why so many Houstonians refer to it by such derogatory terms as the "Wham-Bam-Tram" or the "Streetcar Named Disaster".

Action America's Proposal for Repainting the Wham-Bam-Tram

It's time to face facts. The Wham-Bam-Tram is a car magnet that should be replaced by busses. At the very least, Metro could paint the Wham-Bam-Tram, with a color scheme, befitting its severe threat to public safety. We, at Action America, have proposed just such a color scheme (seen to the right), but Metro has, so far, ignored our proposal, choosing instead, to pretend that if they just ignore the overwhelmingly high crash numbers long enough, the problem will simply go away. However, crashes are not going away. The graph below the Wham-Bam-Tram Ram Counter, at http://www.ActionAmerica.org/houston/, shows that instead of becomming less frequent, crashes have become much more common. But, like the true bureaucrats that they are, Metro officials aren't going to let a little thing like facts stand in the way of their self-serving propaganda.

BTW, Flyer, I didn't have the exact time of the latest crash, when I first posted this crash to the Wham-Bam-Tram Ram Counter. The original KHOU report only said afternoon, so I initially used 3:00PM as the start time for our Crash Clock. I have since corrected it to start at 5:00PM. According to the Crash Clock, we are now 12 hours since the last crash. But, that could be wrong, too. After all, as often as these crashes are happening, it's quite likely that another crash could be happening, even as I write this. But, in general, the Crash Clock is pretty accurate.

Those trams are a menace. I'm from out of town and it's very difficult to get used to the idea of these trams operating right at the edge of Fannin St. I can easily understand that Houston natives and visitors like me (who think they know the streets they're dealing with) can get into trouble.

I don't know exactly what it is, but the Dallas system and the San Jose systems are much more insulated and the traffic lights make it clear when you have the right of way. Still, both of these systems--being built on-grade at street level create a number of non-intuitive situations where you don't know why you've lost the right of way. Then you see the train zip by.

But Houston built this thing on a shoestring and engineered it like a bike path--except the bikes weigh 10 times what your car weighs.

"Statistics from the FTA's National Transit Database confirm Hull's assessment -- light rail is a much safer transportation mode than buses when compared by collisions per transit vehicle and number of miles traveled."

In light of the Korean train wreck, I went back and reread the above article. Granted that, although light rail does not carry as many passengers as the Korean passenger trains, that wreck points out that passenger capacity is an issue. With that in mind, I would like to see the statistics on both the number of injuries per 100,000 miles traveled in light rail vs. buses and the dollar damages per 100,000 miles traveled in light rail vs. buses.

I suspect that light rail damages are more expensive. Also, when there is a really serious rail accident, the injury rate soars, because of the higher capacity of the trains. Houston Metro has already proved their incompetence at all levels. How difficult would it be to imagine a scenario where a loaded Northbound train gets on the wrong track and collides with a loaded Southbound train. Though not probable, it's far more than just a remote possibility.

At least, in my private automobile (SUV, actually) I don't have to put my life in the hands of incompetent bureaucrats and close to minimum wage workers. I pay attention, when I drive and have become very adept at dodging the idiots. I haven't had even a minor fender-bender in around 20 years. How many Wham-Bam-Tram drivers can say that? 8^)

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Trains' crash rate 25 times U.S. norm

MetroRail records 36th collision of year