NJ Transit acts to curb track deaths
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Last updated: Sunday September 23, 2012, 9:32 AM
BY KAREN
ROUSE
STAFF WRITER
The Record
In the year since three boys died in
two separate accidents involving NJ Transit trains, the state’s mass transit
agency has taken aggressive steps to lower the rate of fatalities along its
lines with the goal of reducing them to zero.
THOMAS E. FRANKLIN/STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHER
A pedestrian walking past a large
warning sign as she crossed the tracks near Plauderville Station in Garfield.
At the Plauderville Station in Garfield — where 13-year-old Michael
Cabaj was killed — four audible, flashing signs that warn: “!Danger! Another
train coming,” are now functioning. At the Aberdeen Station in Matawan, NJ
Transit is testing new gate “skirts,” structures that hang from the emergency
arm of the pedestrian gate to deter people from ducking under the gate when an
active train is on the track.
And last year, after The Record
detailed the personal trauma train engineers suffer after a striking a
pedestrian, NJ Transit began sending its own engineers and police to share with
students the painful memories they are left with after a fatal collision.
Citations are lower
Figures show that despite an
enforcement component in NJ Transit's anti-trespassing campaign, the agency's
police issued fewer citations in a 100-day period this year, compared with the
level a year ago.
From June 1 to Sept. 10, 2011, NJ
Transit police issued 63 citations to pedestrians — 60 for trespassing on
tracks, rights of way or crossing locations and three for railroad signal
crossing violations.
But in the period this year, the
agency issued just 58 — 40 trespassing citations and 18 pedestrian violation
summonses.
Source: NJ Transit
With train lines often providing a
shortcut between destinations, the temptation — especially among teenagers — to
walk on the tracks is strong. But the consequences can be deadly; more than 400
fatalities occur on railroads nationwide each year, according to the Federal
Railroad Administration.
NJ Transit is part of a nationwide
effort among mass-transit operators to create a shift in behavior, particularly
among youth. In Salt Lake City, for instance, officials are using billboards,
posters and electronic warning signs to reach out to students to try to reduce
railroad trespassing deaths.
“They are ahead of the curve,” said
Marmie Edwards, spokeswoman for Operation Lifesaver, a nationwide non-profit
whose mission is to reduce collisions, injuries and fatalities at highway rail
crossings. “They are really working in the communities they operate in to
educate.”
Actions taken by NJ Transit also
include the installation of new fencing at the River Edge Station and the
removal of brush at a station in Atco, a section of Waterford Township in
Camden County, to improve visibility for train engineers.
State Transportation Commissioner
Jim Simpson, who said as a father of four he was personally moved by
back-to-back deaths last fall, began spearheading the public safety campaign
that focuses on three areas — educating the public, enforcing trespass laws,
and reexamining the rail network to identify whether improvements could be made
to the engineering
“With all our efforts, I’d like to
get to zero fatalities,” Simpson said.
But the changes come too late for
Michael Cabaj’s family and families also still mourning the deaths of two other
boys.
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