On-going Calgarians hit by trains thread

[chemgear]

[TheScorpion]

Here's a simple solution to all of this...

Make the gates electric and have them automatically lock whenever a train is coming.

It wouldn't even be that hard... just have them lock when the flashing lights start. Hell, would it even cost that much?

It'd stop people buried in their phones, for sure. Idiots who hop the fences? That's just pure idiocy, and there's nothing you can do.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Here's a simple solution to all of this...

Make the gates electric and have them automatically lock whenever a train is coming.

It wouldn't even be that hard... just have them lock when the flashing lights start. Hell, would it even cost that much?

It'd stop people buried in their phones, for sure. Idiots who hop the fences? That's just pure idiocy, and there's nothing you can do.

That was my thought too, an electromagnet would do this.

Something like this:

[Kjesse]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Here's a simple solution to all of this...

Make the gates electric and have them automatically lock whenever a train is coming.

It wouldn't even be that hard... just have them lock when the flashing lights start. Hell, would it even cost that much?

It'd stop people buried in their phones, for sure. Idiots who hop the fences? That's just pure idiocy, and there's nothing you can do.

Even your idea contributes to devolution. Survival of the stupidest.

[MrMastodonFarm]

And when someone's inbetween the gates and a train starts coming?

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

And when someone's inbetween the gates and a train starts coming?

I thought of that too.

Make the lights begin flashing a few seconds earlier. Have some sort of recorded voice come over the speakers saying "gates locking in ten seconds, clear the path", giving everyone enough time to get out of the way

Alternatively, only have the gates lock from the outside

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I thought of that too.

Make the lights begin flashing a few seconds earlier. Have some sort of recorded voice come over the speakers saying "gates locking in ten seconds, clear the path", giving everyone enough time to get out of the way

Alternatively, only have the gates lock from the outside

Maybe I am alone in this but if semi competent humans require that kind of hand holding to avoid walking into their own demise it's probably best that they be locked in a padded room.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Delgar

Even your idea contributes to devolution. Survival of the stupidest.

I wouldn't say survival of the stupidest, but helping us cope with the stupidity of others.

Transit and traffic move more smoothly when people or vehicles aren't ending up in front of trains. For this reason it makes sense to try to prevent it.

[Roast Beef]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I thought of that too.

Make the lights begin flashing a few seconds earlier. Have some sort of recorded voice come over the speakers saying "gates locking in ten seconds, clear the path", giving everyone enough time to get out of the way

Alternatively, only have the gates lock from the outside

Still wouldn't work. Just look at pedestrians downtown with the countdown timers, if you had something like a locking gate on any given intersection downtown there would be dozens of fatalities per day....people are stupid and a countdown timer actually makes things riskier. Combine that with a locking gate and it's a recipe for disaster.

Edit: Not to mention the logistics of it. If you did have a countdown timer on the tracks, where would it be triggered? How would it deal with the varying speed of each incoming/outgoing train? How would it be able to lock people from going onto the tracks but still let people off of the tracks? Could it prevent another clueless person from walking onto the tracks through the gate that the other person just opened from the other side? What about the people wearing headphones? Or the people with their heads buried in their phones...the current flashing lights and sounds don't always prevent this, so how could something else do it? You can only realistically do so much to prevent stupid from happening.

[Swift]

Safety transit boss considers ban on headphones near LRT stations - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...-ban-1.3995225

I have no idea how they would implement that.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

Safety transit boss considers ban on headphones near LRT stations - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...-ban-1.3995225

I have no idea how they would implement that.

Nanny state, much? That is ridiculous.

[FireGilbert]

Isn't the solution to remove all the level crossings and, for the stations that don't have them already, add overpasses with stairs and elevators? Sure it will be expensive but the cost might be worth it to save lives.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Isn't the solution to remove all the level crossings and, for the stations that don't have them already, add overpasses with stairs and elevators? Sure it will be expensive but the cost might be worth it to save lives.

You still have idiots that cross the right of way where there are no crossings at all. I have even seen morons walking between SAIT and Sunnyside on the tracks. When you think you have seen everything, you will see something that a rational person could not imagine happening.

[Fuzz]

localized EMP's.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

Safety transit boss considers ban on headphones near LRT stations - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...-ban-1.3995225

I have no idea how they would implement that.

It'd be very easy to implement it. It's ENFORCING it that's the tricky deal.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Is this just a calgary thing? I mean, there are trains in other cities. Do they have the same numbers of accidents as we do?

Probably not. Most cities are smart and bury or elevate their trains.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by habernac

Probably not. Most cities are smart and bury or elevate their trains.

You want smart design and construction then you have to pay for it. Calgary went with at grade for its LRT due to the increased cost of dealing with a high water table and heavy clay soil. Basically, if you wanted an LRT underground with the same amount of money then you wouldn't have the Blue line; only the Red line.

[puckedoff]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Isn't the solution to remove all the level crossings and, for the stations that don't have them already, add overpasses with stairs and elevators? Sure it will be expensive but the cost might be worth it to save lives.

The solution is to remove the idiots who don't look before they cross. Calgary Transit is working on this, one at a time.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Isn't the solution to remove all the level crossings and, for the stations that don't have them already, add overpasses with stairs and elevators? Sure it will be expensive but the cost might be worth it to save lives.

This increases crime and vandalism at stations and doesn't necessarily fix the problem

[GGG]

Originally Posted by habernac

Probably not. Most cities are smart and bury or elevate their trains.

Calgary per capita is one of the most used LRT systems in the world. They were pretty smart in how they developed it. Compare ridershsip numbers with Edmonton.