Dive Brief:
- The Federal Transit Administration issued a safety advisory this week recommending that state agencies overseeing transit agencies that operate street-running rail systems analyze collisions with pedestrians and vehicles. The FTA also recommends that these safety oversight agencies review transit agencies’ actions to reduce such collisions.
- From 2015 through 2023, the FTA documented 2,316 collisions between street-running trains and people or vehicles, resulting in 117 deaths.
- Streetcars, trolleys, light rail trains or cable cars that run along city streets are 10 times more likely to strike a pedestrian or private vehicle at intersections than at traditional railroad grade crossings, according to the FTA.
Dive Insight:
With pedestrians, vehicles and trains operating in close proximity on some city streets, accidents are not uncommon. Last year in Brookline, Massachusetts, a Green Line light rail train struck a car making an illegal left turn across the tracks, according to CBS Boston News. In May 2024, a pedestrian died while crossing the tracks near the Vernon Station in Los Angeles when the individual was hit by a light rail train.
The FTA found that the majority of collisions occurred when drivers or pedestrians ignored traffic signals governing the rail crossings but that other issues may be involved. “Research indicates that street-running rail collisions may occur due to factors such as the perception of signage at complicated intersections, absence of barriers, or signal timing,” the FTA safety advisory says.
Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit working to prevent collisions around railroad tracks, established a grant program this year for a transit agency or other government entity to develop a safety campaign encouraging participants to complete one or more safety pledges. Hampton Roads Transit in Virginia won the $10,000 grant funded by the FTA. The transit agency will use the funds on safety outreach for a light rail operation in Norfolk, Virginia.
