Road design, safety and Vision Zero

[dtkvictim]

We were hearing the same issue with airplanes that were delayed unloading at Pearson. In general, I think most people handle exceptional circumstances poorly.

People aren't the problem here...it's a systems issue. Why hasn't GO got a clear policy that's communicated effectively to both staff and customers.

It shouldn't be up to the engineer/customer service rep to figure out what to do...

And this is especially frustrating given that I've been in Metrolinx meetings and they make a BIG show of talking about safety procedures. They literally started their meeting IN OUR BUILDING by pointing out to the audience where the emergency exit doors are.

And yet, when a train experiences a malfunction or delay, there's limited communication and no established procedure for what to do. It makes me wonder if their had been a fire if they'd have figured out to USE the emergency exits.

Same for Pearson...although at least with Pearson there is an inter-agency issue. I.e., the pilots/plane are operated by the airline, not by Pearson which would be the agency responsible for supporting any kind of response to an issue. Metrolinx doesn't need to have agreements with anyone to evacuate their trains operating on their tracks.

I agree on the sentiment that agencies consistently make poor choices here (whether highways, planes, or trains), but people are part of the systems, and will consistently be the weakest link in the system.

If you are referring the recent GO fiasco I am thinking of (I only skimmed the situation, so I may have facts wrong), but it involved a potential shooting, a dangerous to disembark location, police, fire services, GO, and a freight train. That's a complicated situation with many agencies involved. Add in drunk, rowdy passengers damaging trains (perhaps exacerbated by prior poor decisions), and you've got a situation that is both difficult to plan for, and required people in charge to be actively reacting to the situation.

Especially when GO doesn't have all of the facts, if CN/CP or the police are not actively communicating or don't know everything themselves, blindly disembarking might even be a worse decision.