Houston Metro To Make Safety Upgrades After Recent Crashes
Style Magazine Newswire | 3/6/2017, 2:30 p.m.
HOUSTON - After two deadly wrecks between MetroRail trains and bikes within a month, the head of Houston Metro says the agency is putting in place measures to keep it from happening again.
Jerome Gray, Vice President and Senior Press Officer for Metro, tells KHOU 11 there were 108 collisions involving Metro light rail vehicles in 2016.
Gray also detailed how those numbers stack up when compared to Metro’s “closest peer agencies” during that same year: Phoenix Valley Metro Rail had 40 collisions, Sacramento Regional Transit had 37, and Santa Clara VTA had 22.
Data from the Federal Transit Administration on all 23 light rail systems nationwide shows that between January 2016 through October 2016, the 21 agencies that had wrecks involving light rail trains averaged 19.2 collisions.
Tom Lambert, Metro’s CEO, said Friday that “nothing is off the table” as the agency makes big safety changes to its rail system.
Lambert says trains recently began using a louder horn when approaching intersections and platforms. Trains have already begun getting red and blue reflective tape on the front and sides to make them more visible day and night, with all trains eventually getting the tape.
For more information go to http://www.KHOU.com
