METRO addresses Danger Train collisions, financial deals gone bad
METRO's expensive blogger would like you to know that the organization has a plan for dealing with those pesky cars that keep running into the Danger Train:
For the past few months, left-hand turn accidents between cars and METRO trains have been increasing in the downtown area.
Now, METRO and the City of Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering, Traffic and Transportation Division has [sic] launched a pilot program to curb those accidents. It calls for a three-pronged approach that includes:
* Signal priority adjustments for METRORail
* New traffic-light fixtures
* Increased METRO police enforcement along the Red LineThe changes - implemented by METRO, the City of Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering, Traffic and Transportation Division - will also improve safety and help traffic move along Main Street and major intersections.
[snip]
With the resignaling, this means METRORail will get a green light first, before motorists get a green light to proceed. This allows the train to proceed ahead of regular traffic at intersections. Westbound and eastbound traffic will not be affected.
If all it takes to cut down on the number of traffic/train collisions is changing a few traffic signals, why in the world has it taken years of collisions to implement the plan? At-grade rail down a busy traffic corridor used by (bad) Houston drivers seems like the problem (more so than traffic signals). Nevertheless, the organization plans on building even more at-grade rail. Won't busy Richmond be a hoot when even heavier traffic blends with another Danger Train?
Meanwhile, METRO is begging the federal government to help save the profits it made by entering into sell/lease-back deals that required financial backing from firms like AIG (now in default -- uh oh!):
The Metropolitan Transit Authority joined 10 other transit agencies across the nation Tuesday as they urged Congress for help with financing deals imperiled by the credit crisis.
The move is the latest attempt by Metro and the other agencies to avoid millions in default payments triggered by the collapse of insurance giant American International Group.
AIG provided payment guarantees on lease agreements between Metro and several banks. Those deals required payment guarantees from insurers, such as AIG, with high credit ratings. The deals guaranteed by AIG now are in technical default as a result of the insurance giant's slashed credit rating.
[snip]
Metro entered into dozens of the deals, which allow transit agencies to sell rail cars, buses and other assets to banks and them lease them back.
All of the lease agreements were lawful and approved by the Federal Transit Administration.
Metro could be on the hook for about $14 million, roughly the amount in revenue it earned from the deals, officials have said.
Sometimes when a deal seems too good to be true...
Perhaps some intrepid reporter(s) will follow up with some obvious questions to the transit agency about future deals of this nature, and what it has done to mitigate its risks moving forward.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/19/08 10:02 PM | Print |
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