As proof she offers as an
example, the Portland light rail MAX, which killed five people in the past year, four in
the last six months of 1999. At least this should lay to rest the fears some people
expressed at our past transit meetings when people asked if light rail would be noisier
than the Chicago elevated or the New York subway!
Light rail is indeed very quiet and can sneak up on your if you are not paying
attention or your back is turned. However, is this a good reason for rejecting the idea of
light rail? Should we reject a quiet, efficient, non-polluting form of transit because it
has been involved in some accidents? It is true you can probably hear a bus coming better
than a light rail train--maybe even smell it coming! However, you can reasonably expect to
find a light rail train on its tracks. With buses the possibilities are nearly limitless.
Tara did point out the fact that the Portland system MAX was responsible for a third of
the fatalities that occurred on all 21 light rail systems in the entire country last year.
Why such a high percentage in Portland? One reason may be the fact that its light rail
operates over 15 blocks directly on crowded streets in the heart of downtown Portland.
While our proposed system will have a number of "at-grade" crossings, there are
no plans at the present time to operate directly on our public streets.
It would appear that Portland needs to do a thorough job of public safety education
that includes the need to look before crossing the tracks or getting too near to moving
trains. As a matter of fact, that is just what we did for nearly 50 to 75 years when
almost every city in America had streetcars. Yes, there were accidents, but most of us
survived quite well in an environment that included more pedestrians than we have on our
streets today.
