I have my doubts it will make one difference to the average rider. No one in NY avoids stations along the Central Park West line because they are stacked. I'd imagine it would matter even less considering it would just be a short escalator flight lasting only a handful of seconds between directions. Personally I kind of like the stacked stations because I like to be nestled and prefer side platforms to island and having a wall behind you can be psychologically more comfortable. It also appears the stacked design accommodates a more generous platform width, at least the lower level shown in the schematic. The wider width lower level platform should be matched to the direction with the highest outbound ridership, in this case toward Oakland, and the higher level narrower platform for disembarking passengers.
EDIT Nevermind, on closer inspection it appears the platform widths are more or less the same when taking the angle of the tunnel radius wall into account. |
Some more new Caltrain trainsets have arrived.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FbIIUOXU...pg&name=medium https://twitter.com/Caltrain/status/...-1FvPgowOTM5Rg |
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I believe Honolulu's brand new system (HART) will have PSDs so it'll be interesting to see how that is executed. |
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I don't really like the aesthetics of PSDs but I try to set that aside because of the benefits. In addition to the other benefits mentioned, it isn't true that most suicides on metro systems would just happen elsewhere anyway. Often it's people who are distraught or experiencing some type of mental health crisis at that moment and they do it very spontaneously. So when people are presented with an easy, accessible way of doing it, the rates really increase. Kind of like with guns how the likelihood of a successful attempt is MUCH higher if you have access to one than if you don't. Having to go through extra time and bother to do it presents a lot more time for second thoughts or for other people to intervene and get the person help.
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There are other things transit agencies can do to prevent accidential falling in front of a train from a platform vs using platform doors. Liverpool Merseyside Rail is placing gap fillers on the trains to prevent people falling between the train and platform. Many light rail operators in the USA, including DART, are placing bollards on the platforms in the location where the train units are coupled together. Automated doors is not the only answer. |
People accidently falling onto the tracks or between the railcar and the platform really isnt the issue though. Any solution to that problem on a massive scale would essentially be a solution in search of a problem. Not only that most American systems have a pretty tight tolerance between vehicle and platform and prevention comes in the form of pantograph gates like in NY or a version of the same concept like chains or belts. What you see less of in NA due to our lack of open gangway railcars is the rubber accordion which serves the same function on many overseas systems. At least in the case of NY, most of the interest in PSDs, to the amount that there is from both the agency and advocates, is to prevent trespassing into tunnels and suicides which both disrupt service (not to mention traumatic to both opetator and passengers) and passenger safety regarding pushing incidents usually at the hands of the menttally ill, respectively.
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Platform screen doors would make it possible to air-condition enclosed stations in sunbelt states and prevent litter from getting on the rails and causing incidents. There's such a night and day difference waiting for an airport people mover in an indoor room that gets mopped by a janitor every four hours and has the AC on blast so it never gets musty, versus a skanky light rail station that is outside and has piles of garbage on the tracks. Combine that with fare gates to prevent homeless loiterers and it would greatly improve the experience of using transit.
I know the official narrative is that all of this is too expensive. But I think you have to spend money to get results in the real world. |
I don't doubt those are attractive benefits and I actually forgot about the track fire thing with regard to third rail subways but I still think it comes down to best use of resources. Like I said, ground up and brand new, sure, go for it. But such an endeavor would cost a system like the NY subway likely tens of billions. And that's if they could even be installed in the vast majority of underground stations as the location of columns creates spaces too narrow to pass for passengers including wheelchairs creating serious circulation issues and thus hazards. I believe the MTA not that long ago released a report saying a large percentage of stations could not practically has screen doors installed in them. And we all know that in an ancient system like that some PSDs might show up but likely would never be followed by air conditioning. That is nearly guaranteed.
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Over the course of a day, a disturbed someone might spend half an hour waiting for a train at the station. They spend 8 hours at work, and easily another 8 hours at a minimum at home. 16 hours vs 0.5 hours. Why do you think they might go crazy more often at the train station? Possibilty YES, Probabilty NO! |
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No matter what the issue, Electricron loves math! :haha: |
This is an except from a much longer article where I initially learned about the nature of subway-related suicide attempts.
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All that makes perfect sense, I'm not going to claim it doesn't. It's just that a person could also walk in front of a bus, or truck, or any number of split decision methods. Obviously we can't put up barriers to protect against that and the cost of... well thats pointless to even explore. There's nothing less lethal about walking in front of a Mack box truck going 40 than a subway doing 25.
I understand the psychology at play here. I understand the sentiment. It will just continue to come down to whether we want to spend scarce public dollars to safeguard against suicides or suicide attempts. Not everything in life can be protected against. I don't mean to sound insensitive I really dont, but if saving lives were the goal, the list would be long... Driving, alcohol, over the counter drugs, and of course the #1 suicide aid, guns. |
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I'm not saying that all existing stations should be retrofitted. That would require a cost-benefit analysis which could result in different outcomes in different settings. I'm simply pointing out how I came to accept that their benefit outweighs their downsides in many cases despite my aesthetic aversion to them. |
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