On Feb 25, 2013, at 06:08 , [email protected] wrote: > Montreal has had computerized subway operation since before 1976 (it was in > place by the 76 Olympics). > > No train operators' jobs were lost. They still sit at their post with a big > red mushroom button ready to be pushed in case an emergency stop is required. > Along with one other train operator (who sits in the driver's compartment of > the last car) he also operates the passenger doors. > > I am sure that if Seattle or any other city implemented automatic operation > of their subways operators would still be required as a "set of eyes" for > emergencies, even if some sort of hazard sensing system were installed.
On Feb 25, 2013, at 12:11 , Bob W wrote: > Anyway, the trains still have a 'train captain' whose job it is to, er, stand > there doing not much since there's an automatic announcer, the doors unlock > automatically when the train stops, there's no big red button (otherwise a > passenger would sit on it). I think their main function is to make sure you > don't take a bike on unless it is fully folded (and they won't accept that a > non-folding bike is of necessity fully folded at all times). Ocassionally > they wave a sensor in your general direction to make sure your electronic > ticket is up-to-date. > > Anyway again, since their job is far less skilled than a driver's job, they > cost far less to hire and train, and the network is more or less immune from > strikes because the 'train captains' can be sacked very cheaply. A few years ago Seattle built and implemented a "Light Rail" system at great expense. Decades ago they built a tunnel through downtown with 5 or 6 stops, but the money for rail traffic never materialized. It therefore became the "Bus Tunnel" with ventilation inadequate for the fumes from the diesel buses. So they bought a fleet of "hybrid" buses that could power through the tunnel on electric power, but not enough of them. They then upgraded the ventilation within the tunnel to cope with the many diesel buses still needed for the rider traffic. All this time they were using "Electric Buses" called "Trolleys" above on the regular streets. Then they closed the tunnel for two years to tear out the original tracks for light rail and regrade them because they were the wrong gauge, and the wrong height from the cars to the platforms. Finally finished the light rail system downtown several years ago with design promises to reach out to the suburbs north, south, and east of Seattle. That has been set aside as too expensive at this time. Developers were willing to spend big bucks to buy the land the city had been using to house and maintain an antique rail trolley running from the historic Pioneer Square district over to and down the waterfront and back for tourists so they could see all the cool places they could spend money. Without the barn, there was no place to maintain the old trolleys, so they modified several old buses to 'look like' they were trolleys to handle the load of tourists, especially since they now were docking dozens of cruise ships a season with millions to spend. Next they built a short line light rail from downtown to South Lake Union, promising developers foot traffic if they would invest in replacing much of the old commercial area with new shiny apartments and shops. There went our Pro camera shop and custom processing labs. For decades the downtown businesses had been taxed as a subsidy to provide free bus fare in the core downtown area to encourage shoppers to park elsewhere, preventing overcrowding. When that only partially worked, giving the homeless a place to sleep and allowing them to travel all over the area for free, they last year did away with the service, charging everyone everywhere. Without the incentive to shop downtown with free mobility, business dropped off some. Then they tried to kill it altogether by placing new digital parking meters throughout downtown, raising the parking rates to cover the costs. These meters also notified the meter maids and men when a meter expired, so the chances of a big old fine rose considerably. Then came the 2008 financial crisis. And I moved well outside of the city to the rural setting I now enjoy. I have seen Seattle several times in the past 5 years as I drove past it. For $12.00 I can avoid that by taking the ferry to my sister's instead of driving the long way around. The promise to link the light rail up to the northern areas of Puget Sound is pretty much dead, though maps can still be found. Doesn't look like Seattle and Tacoma will be linked at the airport as planned, though Seattle's portion of that system now reaches the airport. And, all the operators of all the systems are still 100% union. Joseph McAllister [email protected] -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
