Trying to Grab Pedestrians’ Attention

The MTA unveiled a state-of-the-art pedestrian warning sign Friday for its Metro Rail Blue Line, part of continuing efforts to turn around what has been the deadliest light rail system in California.

The fiber optic sign, said to be the only one of its kind in the nation, hangs over the pedestrian walkway to the Vernon Avenue station near Long Beach Avenue.

At least 16 accidents, including four deaths, have occurred at the intersection since 1990. Overall, 54 pedestrians and drivers have been killed along the Blue Line since it began running between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach. The line had more fatalities than California’s four other light rail systems combined in the six years ending with 1999, California Public Utilities Commission records show.

The heavy number of accidents at the Vernon crossing made it a prime candidate for testing the sign, said Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials, who paid for it with a $200,000 federal grant.

Should the sign prove successful--and it has been effective in early tests--the MTA plans to introduce it at other problem intersections.

The sign’s vivid yellow-on-black images begin flashing and moving whenever a train approaches the intersection. Its designers say they spent months interviewing pedestrians until they got the graphics just right. Vijay Khawani, director of MTA rail safety operations, said the agency tested signs with text and graphics and decided on the graphics because of language difficulties.

“We found this particular sign was the preferred sign by the majority of the people we surveyed,” Khawani said.

The MTA blames the accidents on motorists and pedestrians who walk or drive against signals.

After 10 deaths during 1999, the MTA got through 2000 with just one fatality. Officials credit their ongoing safety campaign.

One of the steps taken by the MTA was increasing police patrols along the Blue Line under contracts with the Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles Police Department. Officers have been writing citations by the basketfuls for pedestrians and drivers caught ignoring signals. One sheriff’s deputy wrote 1,898 citations alone in 2000.

The MTA also lobbied the Legislature to increase fines from $104 to $271, which took effect last year.

Also, a demonstration project using four barrier gates along the tracks at 124th Street and Willowbrook Avenue, rather than the traditional two, has proved so successful that the MTA will install them at 10 other intersections.

As part of their campaign, officials have delivered safety messages to 50,000 public school students, church congregations and community groups.