By Ian Savage
Ian Savage, Northwestern University
In 2018, high-speed passenger trains branded as Brightline started running along the formerly freight-only Florida East Coast Railway. Initial service from Miami to West Palm Beach was extended to Orlando in 2023. Unfortunately, the southern end of the line is in the spotlight because of collisions with pedestrians and motor vehicles.
The safety concerns have received extensive coverage in the Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel, The Atlantic and on local television and radio stations.
To South Floridians, the furor may be novel. But nationally the debate over how to prevent these incidents has been going on for decades.
Most of the risks of railroading fall on pedestrians and motorists. Over the past decade, an average of 900 pedestrians lost their lives each year in the U.S., and another 150 motor vehicle occupants died in collisions at highway-rail grade crossings.
I’m an economist who has studied transportation safety for 40 years. My research has analyzed why motor vehicle risks have fallen substantially, while there has been hardly any progress for pedestrians.
Reducing motor vehicle crashes
In 1966, 1,700 motor vehicle occupants died at railroad crossings. Nowadays, that number is typically less than 150. Over the same period, the number of vehicles on the road has tripled. By these measures, the risk has fallen by an amazing 97%.
What happened?
In part, the risk fell due to better vehicle technology and reduced drunken driving, which have improved overall highway safety.
The rest was due to actions taken starting in the early 1970s in reaction to the high number of deaths. Notably, the responsibility for deciding on safety features at crossings was taken away from the railroads and given to state and local highway authorities.
A design standards handbook and risk analysis tools were developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The analysis tools produce a priority listing of the riskiest crossings. The handbook describes the options that engineers can use to reduce risks, such as installing flashing warning lights and barriers across the road. It also suggests when to consider closing or consolidating dangerous crossings. Federal money supplemented spending by railroads and state and local governments to pay for these improvements.
A public information campaign educating drivers about the risks at crossings was established in Idaho in 1972 under the name Operation Lifesaver. By 1986, the program had spread to every state.
Railways closed many unprofitable lines after they were allowed to do so by the Staggers Rail Act of 1980. The reduced number of railroad miles and crossings also dropped the associated risk.
Stagnant risks to pedestrians
A similar analysis of pedestrian deaths is complicated. Pedestrian deaths occur all along the railroad and not just at crossings. Sadly, some deaths are intentional. Federal railroad officials had stopped requiring that suicides be reported in the mid-1950s and resumed doing so only in 2011.
In 1966, there were 730 nonintentional pedestrian deaths. Today, that number is roughly the same. It’s worth noting, however, that the U.S. population is 70% higher than it was in the 1960s, so the risk per person is lower.
Federal data from the past decade shows that about a quarter of the 900 annual pedestrian deaths were ruled by a coroner or medical examiner to be intentional. Coroners often lack sufficient evidence to definitively rule a suicide, so the actual proportion of pedestrians with suicidal intent is likely much higher. My own research in the Chicago area found that about half were confirmed or likely suicides.
Getting to the root cause
While the risk is down, the reduction is nowhere near as large as that of motor vehicles at crossings.
In the past decade the U.S. Department of Transportation has funded development of handbooks on the design of pedestrian crossings and interventions to mitigate risks at places away from crossings.
The latter handbook emphasizes that successful countermeasures need to be tailored to the reasons people are on the tracks in the first place. And, of course, there are many reasons.
Fencing may seem like an obvious countermeasure, but a fence does not prevent access at crossings and stations. Moreover, fences also tend to be destroyed where it is onerous to detour to a formal crossing rather than take a shortcut.
In fact, fencing can be counterproductive if it screens the railroad from public view and encourages nefarious activities, including theft, drug dealing and loitering.
Tackling intentional deaths has been challenging. Countermeasures have focused on signage providing information on mental health services and training rail workers to recognize people displaying symptoms of distress and then intervening or calling for help.
At times, tackling the root of the problem may involve land use and zoning at a local level. For example, a city might decide not to allow a convenience store to be located on the opposite side of the tracks from the population it serves. Or a city or school district might relocate transit or school bus stops to avoid the temptation to take a shortcut.
LB Studios/Connect Images via Getty Images
Florida railroads
South Florida faces several challenges. The primary challenge is its flat land. No hills means there is no natural grade separation between the railroad and intersecting roads and footpaths.
Elevating the railroad would be expensive and would cut communities in two. The effects of such severance should not be underestimated. In fact, the trend in recent times has been to rejoin urban neighborhoods that were bisected by interstate highway construction in the 1960s.
Another challenge comes, ironically, from the original vision behind rail travel in Florida. Standard Oil magnate Henry Flagler developed and built the Florida East Coast Railway in hopes of spurring coastal development. These days, dense communities surround the line, with housing, schools, stores and restaurants scattered on both sides of the tracks.
Development also made it less safe for motor vehicles. Main roads, such as U.S. Route 1 and Dixie Highway, were built parallel to the tracks. Over time, as these roads have become wider and busier, the cross streets have a smaller distance between the railroad and the main road. The space for vehicles waiting to turn onto the main road is limited, and the lights and gates at the railroad crossing must be coordinated with the traffic signals on the main road. This is a major challenge to the state, county and municipal traffic engineers who have inherited these complicated intersections.
It is tempting to suggest that many of these crossings should be consolidated into fewer, well-designed crossings. But this could result in unintended consequences for pedestrians. When too few crossings are available, pedestrians are more likely to take unauthorized shortcuts. Any consolidation of road crossings must be accompanied by alternative ways for pedestrians to cross the tracks safely.
It is important to keep looking for solutions to pedestrian and vehicle safety issues so that South Florida communities can be safer while enjoying the benefits that rail offers, such as reducing the number of trucks on the roads and offering an alternative to passengers who wish to avoid flying or driving on congested Interstate 95.
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988) or Crisis Text Line (text “HELLO” to 741741) for immediate support.
Ian Savage is Professor of Economics at Northwestern University.
JimboXYZ says
I lived there 1997Q1-2014Q1, drove the West Dixie Highway from Ft Lauderdale => Hollywood => Dania Beach = North Miami => Kendall => Homestead/Fl City for the gateway into the FL Keys. At the Kendall SW 88th Street terminal is where the last of any commuter rails (Miami-Dade Metro Rail)/trains has a Depot. There has been always those that were trying to beat the trains long before Brightline. You simply can’t save all the village idiots from themselves & a faster train just means the one’s trying to beat the trains are doubling down with it being a bet that an FEC East Coast train or one of Brightline’s higher speed commuter trains is the demise. Stupid people are always just going to be stupid. And some of them back then were too/quite often suicide by freight train. Economics of Clinton, Bush, Obama mostly for those suicides. 2018-present would be Trump, Biden, Trump. I lived at NE 173rd Street for SE end of the Greynolds Park area, I had a nice view of the railroad tracks & Lake Maule. Living there I even recall a plane crashing into Lake Maule. I used to call North Miami there, “Lower Aventura”, because the mall was in Aventura & just before leaving Miami-Dade county for Broward county & Hallandale Beach.
https://www.avionews.it/item/109256-florida-cargo-plane-lands-on-water.html
I recall at least 4 incidences and that was 1 at the NE 172nd Street crossing, 1 at the NE 186th Street crossing (Miami Gardens) & a couple in between at the NE 179th Street crossing for West Dixie Highway & approaching US-1 (Biscayne Blvd). That wasn’t even a mile North of my location & 50 yards South. Good to reflect back on the better years in America, back to a better time in a lifetime. Anyway, there were even more train collisions with motorists & those that were successful suicides. further south.
I don’t recall reading about many when I lived in Country Walk beyond the homeless that lived along the rails in Goulds, the Redlands/Cauley Square & further south to FL City/Homestead. That was 2014Q2-2016Q1. For South of Kendall (SW 88th) the rails there is also the Bus lines for public transportation, that why the train isn’t passenger rail South to FL City/Homestead.
Anyway, long time ago for a decade in the rear view mirror. I’ll never go back to the madness of South Florida. And hope I expire before Palm Coast becomes a suburb of Jacksonville, FL, that was Alfin’s vision of 2050 for growing Flagler county to Ormond & St Augustine. Turning a Volusia county to Duval into gridlock misery of school zone to 35 mph speed limits. I see A1A where high bridge is & used to be 55 mph. That’s now construction zones that are going to become 25-30 mph, like Flagler Beach is closer to the pier. The days of driving 45-55 mph on A1A are disappearing. Just the direction of overpopulation in FL & it includes plans to rebuild beaches for erosion for perpetuity.
Al says
You cry about lack of train service then you cry about stupid people getting run over. You can’t fix stupid so just let natural selection play out.
Bo Peep says
Look both ways, don’t try to beat the train or go around the barriers and don’t hang out on the track. Easy for anybody but liberals.
Skibum says
It is extremely simple-minded for maga sheeple like little Bo Peep to fantasize that liberals are not able to get out of the way of trains. Especially when her moniker, which is a common name given to sheep, perfectly describes the animals known to go right over the cliff en masse, following the others in front of them to their deaths because they are not known to be an intelligent species. Talk about coincidence! Little Bo Peep keeps missing the irony of the self-own comments, but they sure are entertaining for us liberals to read.
Laurel says
We recently sat with our friends in a Ft. Lauderdale, patio restaurant, and yes, the Brightline really whooshes by, but the locals are used to it by now. Personally, I wish the Brightline went from Miami to Jacksonville. That would be great! As kids, the same friend and I would challenge a walk across the river on the tracks, but the traffic was much less at that time, thank goodness! Miami’s commuter is raised, and has really cool lighting. I’d like to take it sometime. The stations now are huge and really nicely done.
I love trains, and used them frequently for east coast travel. Since we had a women’s dress shop, we would travel from Ft. Lauderdale to Manhattan to buy inventory. Back in that time, the trains were clean and nice. We would get sleeper cars, and I loved the rocking sound of the wheels on the tracks. Over time, the trains became run down and not so nice. I understand they are really nice again.
I used to live in Boca Raton, near Camino Real, which is not a very busy road, and has a crossover. For some reason, there were periodic deaths by pedestrians, not at the crossover, but just north of it. Very strange! I used to wonder about it. A way to get rid of someone? Suicide by train is really selfish! Jumping in front of a train, or a vehicle, is just awful, leaving the conductor, or driver with the memory of hitting, and killing someone.
Skibum says
While there have been many safety features that have been engineered into the design of both railroads and vehicles over numerous decades, it is impossible to engineer safety features into human beings above and beyond education, maturity and common sense. No matter how many previous train related deaths there are, there will always be another numbskull somewhere who believes they are faster than a speeding locomotive. And their prize usually ends up being a headstone saying “RIP”. You can’t fix stupid.
HayRide says
It’s not Brightline fault at all, on average the typical population is generally very stupid and risk their lives because they just don’t know ant better!
Dave says
Well you walk on the train tracks or drive on the tracks or drive AROUND the guard rails your odds of surviving are slim. People know better but NO, its the I’m in a hurry I’ll take my chances mentality.
You can forget Fla
California consistently leads the U.S. in train-related fatalities, with numbers varying yearly but often in the hundreds, driven by trespassing and crossing incidents, with figures like 251 deaths in 2023 from 405 strikes (including suicides) and around 185 fatalities in 2024, though preliminary 2024 data shows high crossing deaths. California’s high density, access to tracks, and large unhoused population contribute to these figures, with trespassers often making up the majority of victims.
Land of no turn signals says says
They should install a booth with a basic IQ test to test you if your smart enough to only cross if it is safe.Something similar to Disney you have to be this tall to ride.