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

H. Pike Oliver focuses on master-planned communities. He is co-author of Transforming the Irvine Ranch: Joan Irvine, William Pereira, Ray Watson, and THE BIG PLAN, published by Routledge in 2022.

Early in his career, Pike 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. For the next three decades, he was involved in master-planned development on the Irvine Ranch in Southern California, as well as other properties in western North America and abroad.

Beginning in 2009, Pike taught real estate development at Cornell University and directed the undergraduate program in Urban and Regional Studies. He relocated to Seattle in 2013 and, from 2016 to 2020, served as a lecturer in the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington, where he also served as its chair.

Pike graduated from San Francisco State University's urban studies and planning program and received a master's degree in urban planning from UCLA. He is a member of the American Planning Association and the Urban Land Institute and a founder and emeritus member of the California Planning Roundtable.

https://urbanexus.com

Positive train control not the most important rail safety improvement

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