Metro train hits Metro bus

[editor]

METRO has begun single-tracking northbound rail travel between the Downtown transit center and the UH-DT station.

The bus bridge remains in place for patrons traveling the stretch between the Downtown transit center and the UH-Downtown station. METRO buses are picking up patrons on Travis for northbound travel and Fannin for southbound travel.

METRORail is also single-tracking southbound between the Downtown transit center and Fannin South.

Preliminary evidence indicates the bus operator ran a red light, hitting the train on Main Street at St. Joseph Parkway this afternoon. Four persons have been transported to St. Joseph Hospital, four others have been transported to Ben Taub Hospital and one person has been taken to Hermann Hospital – all with non-life threatening injuries.

[AtticaFlinch]

Four persons have been transported to St. Joseph Hospital, four others have been transported to Ben Taub Hospital and one person has been taken to Hermann Hospital

I take this to mean four people have average insurance, four other people have no insurance and one person has better than average insurance.

So... who should we blame? METRO? The driver? The whole damned massively expensive rail boondoggle? Surely we can blame rail somehow. At least, I'm sure someone will try.

[ricco67]

Fast work, Ed!

Actually, the hospitals were probably overwhelmed and decided to split them up or they had a hospital of choice for their insurance. I prefer Methodist if I had a choice.

preliminary reports say that the bus driver ran the light. The camera from the rail will show eventually.

[AtticaFlinch]

The camera from the rail will show eventually.

And maybe the redlight camera too. I wonder if the driver will get a ticket.

[ricco67]

There is no red light camera at that intersection.

I'm willing to bet the driver, depending on his/her record, will receive a ticket at the least and a firing at the worst.

[jfre81]

That's pretty irresponsible for a professional bus driver to run a red light especially with the train on Main.

But yeah, listen to the anti-transit people line up...toy train to nowhere, blah blah blah....wham-bam-tram, yadda....as if people don't get killed in cars on the roads.

Kind of makes me curious, I've never heard of a fatality from a METRO passenger while riding a bus or train, but it's bound to have happened at some point.

[ricco67]

In the driver's defense, you can't stop a bus going 30 mph in the same distance as a car. Even if the driver DID slam on his breaks, the passengers could possibly be hurt by being thrown around.

In my humble opinion, buses should have a speed limit of 20-25 MPH in that area.

As far as I know, there have been two fatalities: A Katrina moron walking on the tracks with headphones on, and another who also ran a red light one or two blocks from that area.

[jfre81]

Yeah, I think I remember hearing about those two. I meant from bus/rail passengers though.

[citizen4rmptown]

Chron article:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6857319.html

59 sec. video there....

[fatesdisastr]

I was in the area 30 minutes after it happened and snapped a few pictures.

Metro says it is the first time a Metro bus has hit a Metro rail. Even more ironically, it all happened in front of Metro headquarters.

[citykid09]

This is why I have always said that rail should be seperated from the streets. Incidents like this still do not help teach METRO a a lesson on how to build rail.

[ricco67]

I was in the area 30 minutes after it happened and snapped a few pictures.

Metro says it is the first time a Metro bus has hit a Metro rail. Even more ironically, it all happened in front of Metro headquarters.

Tell you what, that meeting in the meeting in the morning should be rather exciting.

I would love to be in it.

[JLWM8609]

When the line first opened and people kept running into the train, I wondered how long it would be before a METRO bus collided with the train or vice versa. Looks like I've got my answer, about 5 ½ years, though I was expecting something more like a red light running articulated bus being split in half by a light rail train.

This reminds me, does anyone remember that time around 03-05 when one METRO bus t-boned another downtown?

[Hanuman]

I take this to mean four people have average insurance, four other people have no insurance and one person has better than average insurance.

So... who should we blame? METRO? The driver? The whole damned massively expensive rail boondoggle? Surely we can blame rail somehow. At least, I'm sure someone will try.

I understand your point, however in reality, you are taken where availability dictates. If the hospital is on, "Drive-By" status, you will be redirected somewhere else. It also has to do with the type, and severity of the injury in some cases, as to which specialty group might be best applicable. Come to Ben Taub E.R. some day - any time of the day - and you will see the staff over whelmed with the sheer volume of suffering. These people would have to be split up to give them any proper care at all. The paramedics are very focused, and dedicated professionals who risk their lives doing this service. They care less who you are, what color you are, or your insurance status. All that comes long after the fact.

Word of advice: Stay out of the way of the attorney free-for-all that will be descending on these poor injured people. The Texas Hammer, et al, will be clobbering multiple insurance companies over this.

[JamesL]

At least METRO has cameras so they can see how many people were actually on the train and maybe the bus. I heard someone at METRO today say this is the type of accident where there can end up being more "injured" passengers after the accident than were actually on the vehicles!

That same source said that the bus driver has admitted to running the light. There's video evidence of that, too, of course. All three trucks of the lead train came off the tracks which is why it took so long to rerail.

And a vehicle out of service means fewer two-car trains for the next few weeks. Joy.

[HoustonMidtown]

They are supposed to show the video taken from the train today according to Channel 13..

[Fringe]

This is why I have always said that rail should be seperated from the streets. Incidents like this still do not help teach METRO a a lesson on how to build rail.

Ditto. 

Lawyers are going to have a field day with this one. 

Edited February 9, 2010 by Fringe

[SaintCyr]

Wife was on the train right after the one hit the bus... Got this pic. I agree with the fact that the trains should be separate than the roadway however, the system works fine for now and I REALLY don't want to foot the bill for elevating it (as I see there is no way to bury it without having heavy heavy costs).

All the nay-sayers and "toy train" folks can go back to their cookie cutter homes in suburbs... I'm a believer in mass transit, in ONLY the last 3 months my wife and I have saved $1500 by eliminating a car payment, insurance, parking and saving on gas. We will be avid supporters of the next phases of the train/bus system whether it be elevated or mixed with street traffic.

[jfre81]

So should cross traffic (I mean regular automobile traffic) be grade separated at every intersection to prevent collisions when some imbecile runs a red light? I mean, really, what does it matter if it's a light rail train or a bus or a big rig? Does it make some difference somehow when it's on rails?

Believe it or not we're not the only city with street level LRT.

[Fringe]

So should cross traffic (I mean regular automobile traffic) be grade separated at every intersection to prevent collisions when some imbecile runs a red light? I mean, really, what does it matter if it's a light rail train or a bus or a big rig? Does it make some difference somehow when it's on rails?

Believe it or not we're not the only city with street level LRT.

I know it's to late now but it would have been nice to have had someone with a little vision to start with.   

[AtticaFlinch]

So should cross traffic (I mean regular automobile traffic) be grade separated at every intersection to prevent collisions when some imbecile runs a red light? I mean, really, what does it matter if it's a light rail train or a bus or a big rig? Does it make some difference somehow when it's on rails?

Believe it or not we're not the only city with street level LRT.

We're the only city so many commenters have any real experience with though. And even then, their experience is limited to the news stories they hear about the system. Which, of course, they only hear when something bad like this wreck occurs. The news doesn't make it a habit to run headlines like "Nothing went wrong on the rails today" or "Rail got all passengers to their destinations without any hiccups". 99.99999999999999999999999% of the time, having the rails where they are presents absolutely no problems whatsoever, but throw in an isolated incident or two of individual idiocy, and suddenly the entire system is flawed. More realistically, the critic's logic is what's flawed.

Here's an incredibly short and incomplete list of accidents on the NYC subway system. I wonder if the critics of Houston's rail will stop their kvetching (a common NYC word!) about Houston's system if they'd just realize there are flaws. In. Every. System.

Probably not. Some people just like to complain.

[samagon]

This is why I have always said that rail should be seperated from the streets. Incidents like this still do not help teach METRO a a lesson on how to build rail.

Actually, this is why METRO should employ competent drivers who do not run red lights.

[kylejack]

So I wonder what the pricetag on this little fiasco is.

[AtticaFlinch]

So I wonder what the pricetag on this little fiasco is.

Probably the cost of METRO's insurance deductible. I imagine for an organization METRO's size and with the sheer enormity of their potential liability payouts, I bet this whole fiasco may cost Joe Taxpayer a whopping five to ten grand total. Unless they're self-insured, of course. Which, considering the nature of their business - transporting civilians around town - that would be asinine.

[Fringe]

Here's an incredibly short and incomplete list of accidents on the NYC subway system. I wonder if the critics of Houston's rail will stop their kvetching (a common NYC word!) about Houston's system if they'd just realize there are flaws. In. Every. System.

That list spans over 90 years and is composed of mostly derailing and rear ending incidents, which tells me they have a lot of incompetent people driving their trains. And I'm not interested in what other cities are doing.  

[LTAWACS]

That's pretty irresponsible for a professional bus driver to run a red light...

You're pushing the limits of the tern "professional bus driver". Everyday I see at least 2 buses run red lights. One day, a driver of one of the short buses cut me off in the middle of traffic. I had to swerve to avoid hitting him. When we came upon the next red light, he started throwing gang signs at me and "mad dogging" me with this "tough and hard" looks. Needless to say I called in this lovely incident. Either way, most drivers are far from professional. That's another reason why I stopped riding the bus.

[kylejack]

Probably the cost of METRO's insurance deductible. I imagine for an organization METRO's size and with the sheer enormity of their potential liability payouts, I bet this whole fiasco may cost Joe Taxpayer a whopping five to ten grand total. Unless they're self-insured, of course. Which, considering the nature of their business - transporting civilians around town - that would be asinine.

Insurance company isn't going to raise premiums on a company that rams its vehicles into each other? Deductible is only $10K on a vehicle this expensive?

[AtticaFlinch]

That list spans over 90 years and is composed of mostly derailing and rear ending incidents, which tells me they have a lot of incompetent people driving their trains.

As I already admitted, it's an incomplete list. Besides that, what did this one accident say other than there's one incompetent person driving one bus here?

And I'm not interested in what other cities are doing.

Then what's your plan (vision), and why is it better than what we're currently doing? At the same time, please don't use examples of how the existant systems similar to your plan are already functioning as you've just made irrelevant these real world examples from other cities.

[LTAWACS]

Actually, this is why METRO should employ competent drivers who do not run red lights.

Given the sad state of our education system, qualified drivers are commonplace yet more difficult to find.

[Fringe]

As I already admitted, it's an incomplete list. Besides that, what did this one accident say other than there's one incompetent person driving one bus here?

Then what's your plan (vision), and why is it better than what we're currently doing? At the same time, please don't use examples of how the existant systems similar to your plan are already functioning as you've just made irrelevant these real world examples from other cities.

Every situation is different. I wouldn’t even try to compare the new planned rail line with the present one. It’s to late though to do anything so I’ll just shut up. All I wish is for someone with a little vision to be in charge but that’s probably asking to much for a government entity.  

 

Edited February 9, 2010 by Fringe