[IndianaTrails] Fwd: Rails with Trails

Wed Jan 24 12:16:52 PST 2007

No, I believe the research to which the gentleman refers involved only  
fatalities due to collisions of trains with trespassers.  It implies  
that trespassing on the tracks, and any resulting collisions, are  
eliminated with the installation of a parallel trail.  Makes sense  
when you think about it, but still makes a powerful argument in favor  
of R-w-T's.

> Are you including fatalities associated with crimes committed along the
> trails?
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 04:14:48 -0800
> From: Kevin Heber <kevin at indianatrails.org>
> Subject: [IndianaTrails] Fwd: Rails with Trails
> To: list at indianatrails.org
> Message-ID: <20070124041448.ojfoz42jhh40kok4 at www.indianatrails.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Good info for those not on the national listserv...
>
> ----- Forwarded message from jandrews at gwi.net -----
>      Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:43:03 -0500
>      From: John Andrews <jandrews at gwi.net>
> Reply-To: John Andrews <jandrews at gwi.net>
>   Subject: RE: [trails-and-greenways] Building Trails with Rails
>        To: tim at greendiamondtrails.com, "'Vance, Stephan'"
> <sva at sandag.org>, 'Allen Tacy' <npcrr at neteze.com>
>        Cc: trailsandgreenways at yahoogroups.com
>
> About two years ago, I examined the relative fatality rates for rail
> corridor without trails and those with trails.  A summary of the data
>
> and conclusions can be found at
> http://www.easterntrail.org/rwttrespass.html
>
> The posted Web data when posted had one error and is now getting
> dated.
>
> At the time of posting, it was widely understood that there had been
> one RWT fatality and that it happened in Anchorage,. When checking
> with recreation managers, the library and newspapers, I learned that
> there has been no RWT fatality in Anchorage. There has never been a
> single rail-with-trail fatality in the United States. If you like
> math, the data on the Web site shows a 14-to-1 reduction in fatalities
>
> when trails are added to rail corridors. (The math assumed there had
> been that one RWT fatality.)
>
> In fact, as there has never been a fatality in a RWT corridor, the
> reduction in fatalities per mile could be claimed to be infinite.
> Divide by zero!  But if we assume that with twice as much RWT
> experience that there will be one fatality, then the rate would be
> about a 25-to-1 reduction in fatalities. 4% of the rate for rail
> corridors without trails.
>
> 500 trespassers are killed each year in America's rail corridors. One
>
> every 18 hours. Railroads are terrified of lawsuits resulting from
> these fatalities.  They also pay high medical costs for engineers who
>
> are traumatized by watching people die in front of their trains. But,
>
> if every rail corridor had a parallel trail, we could save about 480
> lives each year.
>
> Although the results have been widely distributed to the Federal
> Railroad Administration, to Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, and others,
> no one has disputed the math.
>
> History is on the side of adding trails to rail corridors.  The common
>
> wisdom will become that adding trails saves lives, not the opposite
> which still prevails.
>
> Good luck,
>
> John Andrews,
> President, Eastern Trail Alliance
>
> At 02:16 PM 1/23/2007, tim at greendiamondtrails.com wrote:
>
>> Message-ID: <005601c73f1e$dcd23180$0501a8c0 at MX3417>
>> X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 11
>
> John Andrews
> P.O. Box 852
> Saco, Maine 04072
> 207-282-1979
> www.EasternTrail.Org
> www.SacoBayTrails.Org
> www.TrailsforaHealthyMaine.Org
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
> -------------- next part --------------
> About two years ago, I examined the relative fatality rates for rail
> corridor without trails and those with trails.  A summary of the data
> and conclusions can be found at
> http://www.easterntrail.org/rwttrespass.html
>
> The posted Web data when posted had one error and is now getting dated.
>
>
> At the time of posting, it was widely understood that there had been
> one RWT fatality and that it happened in Anchorage,. When checking with
> recreation managers, the library and newspapers, I learned that there
> has been no RWT fatality in Anchorage. There has never been a single
> rail-with-trail fatality in the United States. If you like math, the
> data on the Web site shows a 14-to-1 reduction in fatalities when trails
> are added to rail corridors. (The math assumed there had been that one
> RWT fatality.)
>
> In fact, as there has never been a fatality in a RWT corridor, the
> reduction in fatalities per mile could be claimed to be infinite.
> Divide by zero!  But if we assume that with twice as much RWT experience
> that there will be one fatality, then the rate would be about a 25-to-1
> reduction in fatalities. 4% of the rate for rail corridors without
> trails.
>
> 500 trespassers are killed each year in America's rail corridors. One
> every 18 hours. Railroads are terrified of lawsuits resulting from these
> fatalities.  They also pay high medical costs for engineers who are
> traumatized by watching people die in front of their trains. But, if
> every rail corridor had a parallel trail, we could save about 480 lives
> each year.
>
> Although the results have been widely distributed to the Federal
> Railroad Administration, to Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, and others, no
> one has disputed the math.
>
> History is on the side of adding trails to rail corridors.  The common
> wisdom will become that adding trails saves lives, not the opposite
> which still prevails.
>
> Good luck,
>
> John Andrews,
> President, Eastern Trail Alliance
>
> At 02:16 PM 1/23/2007, tim at greendiamondtrails.com wrote:
>
>> Message-ID: <005601c73f1e$dcd23180$0501a8c0 at MX3417>
>> X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 11
>
> John Andrews
> P.O. Box 852
> Saco, Maine 04072
> 207-282-1979
> www.EasternTrail.Org
> www.SacoBayTrails.Org
> www.TrailsforaHealthyMaine.Org
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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