The EGE
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- Jun 29, 2013
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Pedestrian crossings at street crossings are safer; trains tend to be going slower, and there's a dedicated part of the cycle where trains cannot be going through the intersection. Ped crossings neither at stations nor street crossings are potentially problematic, but less so than station crossings. They don't have as many people using them, people are less likely to cross in front of a train (waiting is a 10 second delay, rather than 6-15 minutes till the next train, and it's possible to have gates (which is done at a lot of new-build systems). Different animal from high-ridership GLX stations in trenches with poor sightlines.
Right now, there are only 6 crossings on the Green Line not at streets nor stations:
(B: Naples Road)
B: Fordham Road (former station)
B: Spofford Road
B: Mt. Hood Road (former station)
C: East of Washington Square
D: Chicken Farm
The first three on the B would only ever see service substantially more frequent than now if Harvard Ave turnbacks were introduced, and the Chicken Farm crossing only would with a new Needham branch. Both of those would require major tunnel construction since the Tremont Street Subway is at capacity. And all of those would be reasonable candidates for button-activated gates that give the trains a stop signal for safety - coordinated with traffic signals (there's some great new innovations in ped-only signals) for all except the Chicken Farm crossing.
As a transit planner, I would be much more confortable with a Naples Road crossing - especially with modern safety equipment - than with new crossings at extremely busy grade-separated stations. It'd be easy to integrate with transit signal priority - it could give a red signal to pedestrians if a train was coming.
Right now, there are only 6 crossings on the Green Line not at streets nor stations:
(B: Naples Road)
B: Fordham Road (former station)
B: Spofford Road
B: Mt. Hood Road (former station)
C: East of Washington Square
D: Chicken Farm
The first three on the B would only ever see service substantially more frequent than now if Harvard Ave turnbacks were introduced, and the Chicken Farm crossing only would with a new Needham branch. Both of those would require major tunnel construction since the Tremont Street Subway is at capacity. And all of those would be reasonable candidates for button-activated gates that give the trains a stop signal for safety - coordinated with traffic signals (there's some great new innovations in ped-only signals) for all except the Chicken Farm crossing.
As a transit planner, I would be much more confortable with a Naples Road crossing - especially with modern safety equipment - than with new crossings at extremely busy grade-separated stations. It'd be easy to integrate with transit signal priority - it could give a red signal to pedestrians if a train was coming.