electricron wrote:Batman2 wrote:"After the [Metro] train crash, we were all sitting around here scratching our heads, saying, 'Hey, we've got to do something about this.' And we discovered that there's not much we could do, because the law wouldn't allow us to do it."
I'm not in favor of the idea since there's no way to rationalize the mass transit system in the US without forcing massive costs. Either that, or the "regulations" would be ineffective at best since they would be based around trying to not impose massive costs.
I completely agree with you. Look at FRA's slow adoption of "Positive Train Control" due to costs associated with it. Yet, just about every other country in the world with passenger trains have it already.
Having a set of Federal Regulations for transit doesn't guarantee there will be more safety on America's rails.
What really needs to be closely watched across America is how well the transit agencies maintained their systems. It's easy for NTSB to suggest expensive solutions to a problem without having to pay for them. They're like back seat drivers, all talk with no responsibility.
If DC Metro needs to retire half their cars early for safety reasons, where was the Federal money needed to replace them? Does the NTSB have any financial resources it can pass around where needed? I don't think so........and that's just one reason why and where the NTSB needs new responsibilities........
We don't need new regulations, what's needed is Federal resources for money for real safety programs.
Don't worry, with no responsibility comes no power; NTSB recommendations are usually very limited in scope and serve almost exclusively as fodder for news stories about "who's to blame for [insert event]?" and for deciding liability (and even then they usually spread that around, leading to diffused impacts for each involved party). Considering how many variables are non-standard, there's really not a lot they can do. Think about just a few safety issues: Track gauge, platform height, emergency exits (tunnel and bridge exists, emergency doors, etc.), seating layout, design details (exit signs, warning info, location, labeling, and availability of emergency brakes, etc.), and exterior safety issues such as platform design, signage, and warning devices.
Additionally, more complex questions such as train operation are definitely NOT standard. As far as I know, there are no less than 5 systems for train operation: manual, automatic with a limited manual override (driver can operate cars in a limited fashion that would be prohibitive for normal operation), manual with automatic override (ATP, PTC, etc.), automatic with no driver/engineer/operator, and automatic or manual (such as on the DC Metro).
