PTC Not Only - or Even Best - Way to Cut Train Accidents

WASHINGTON - May 18, 2015 - PRLog -- WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 18,  2015):  There is an obvious and urgent need for effective speed control for trains to prevent Philadelphia-type excessive speed accidents, regardless of the cause, but experts agree that so-called positive train control [PTC] systems cannot be operational before 2020, and even then additional delays might require further extensions of the federal deadline for their installation and much more money.

         Fortunately, there is a much simpler and much less expensive speed control system for trains which could be made operational far sooner, and at only a fraction of the cost of PTC.

        Indeed, it is so simple that its basic principle is already in use in hundreds of thousands of automobiles and trucks now on the roads, says an MIT-educated engineer-inventor turned law professor.

        One reason that PTC is so expensive, time-consuming to establish, and difficult to install is that it is designed to do far more than the fundamental task of keeping trains from exceeding the speed limit - e.g., dealing with switches left in the wrong position, hijackings, natural disasters, etc.  - and is therefore a very complicated system which utilizes not just GPS but also thousands of devices along sections of the tracks which transmit "cab codes" by radio signals to antennas on the bottoms of train cars.

        Unfortunately, for it to work properly, there must be close cooperation and coordination between the many different entities which own the different tracks to which the devices are attached, and the owners of the various trains which may run on these many different tracks.

        All of the devices must also be able to communicate seamlessly with each other, and much of the delay in meeting the 2016 Congressionally-mandated deadline has been caused by the need to unify dozens of different systems, obtain the radio frequencies necessary for the devices to accurately exchange information, and related problems, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

        Yet there are simple navigational devices available for less than $100 for cars.  Their operation does not depend in any way on any additional devices installed along highways, nor upon the type of radio communication PTC requires.

        Since many can show not only the speed at which the car is traveling, but also the speed limit on that section of the road, they could be mounted on each locomotive and prevent the posted speed from being exceeded - completely independent of the tracks on which they are traveling, and without the need for any other sensing devices, cooperation with other companies, communication between devices, etc.

        From an engineering point of view, says Banzhaf, there is no reason why these car-type GPS control systems could not be mounted on trains now, long before PTC can become operational.


        After 2020, when PTC is hopefully fully installed, the GPS-only systems could simply be replaced, or both systems could be used in tandem in a "fail safe" mode so that the train can never go faster that either systems indicates is safe.

        Waiting for PTC makes little sense and will cost many lives, says Banzhaf.

        Doing nothing to prevent high speed accidents until a comprehensive but complicated and expensive system can be established, and not using an existing system which can be installed at little cost and probably within only one year, is an irrational outrage likely to cost dozens of lives and perhaps billions of taxpayer dollars.

        Not using an existing simple GPS-based automobile-type system because a much more complicated and expensive one might be operational in another five years makes as much sense as not installing a simple $100 backup warning system on your automobile now because, by 2020, a more complex system which will also park your car might be available.

        If you wanted to protect your home from burglars, would it not make sense to spend $50 on a deadbolt lock for your front door, even if you can’t afford or can’t wait for a $5000 burglar alarm system which will employ dozens of sensors to give you even more protection butt many years down the road.

        Many in Congress are apparently reluctant to spend billions more in taxpayer dollars for a system which is incredibly complicated - and therefore prone to errors and even more delays - but may be led to believe that PTC is the only way to prevent high speed train crashes.

        Since a viable, well tested, and much simpler and less expensive system already exists, and is in use on hundreds of thousands of cars, those who oppose such expenditures now have a viable alternative.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law
George Washington University Law School,
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
Fellow, World Technology Network,
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2000 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052, USA
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/ @profbanzhaf