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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
11
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Edited 8 y ago
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LTC Jesse Edwards
LTC Jesse Edwards
>1 y
I don't see a hot link.... must just be me.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
>1 y
LTC Jesse Edwards - Its up at the picture Jesse - if your on a phone you may not be able to get to it!
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1SG Dennis Jones
1SG Dennis Jones
8 y
I'm on my phone also can't find the link
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LTC Stephen F.
7
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Investment in infrastructure improvement is not glamourous and tends to be very expensive Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM In this nation HHS has the lions share of the budget pie while the department of transportation has a much smaller share at the national level and liberal-politician dominated states.
Background: The rail networks and canal and river transport were a mainstay in the 1800s and early 20th century. After the automobile boom of the early 20th century and the development of the diesel engine, DoD undertook the design and development of the interstate road system. The interstate system enabled the trucking industry to grow by leaps and bounds.
Interestingly the passenger bus system has declined in popularity over the past 50 years while low cost air fare and train travel in the train corridors has picked up the slack.
A century ago the railroad companies owned and maintained the rail lines. When AMTRACK came along as a private-public "partnership" the government got into the mix of rail use.
Thankfully we live in a nation where building codes are high and consistently used in general. Every year thousands die in train derailments, buses tumbling over cliffs, buildings collapsing and houses being swept out to see in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to name three countries. China is making progress but still has away to go.
"Former NTSB Managing Director Peter Goelz said the safety board offers the best solutions it can think of without worrying about cost. "The genius of the NTSB is that they're not a regulatory agency, which allows them to make recommendations that are based solely on the facts," Goelz said. "A lot of what they recommend is awfully difficult to do and involves significant rethinking of how you approach transportation safety."
1. The NTSB recommendations for commuter train safety
a. Positive train control [automatic speed control for railroads sounds good. Of course the system needs to be (1) hack-proof (2) robust enough to function in electrical system failure and (3) should have manual override when everything else fails.
b. Preventing driver fatigue via fatigue management programs for drivers and supervisors [requires (1) funding to implement from federal and state coffers and (2) sufficient train engineers so that adequate rest between jobs is possible. In order to keep train travel at a reasonable cost, staff may well be the long pole in the train tent. Some people need less sleep to function than others and the amounts of sleep we need vary over the course our lives.]
The Federal government solutions tends to use meat cleavers and sledge hammers instead of the surgical tools that would make more sense to use.
In 2010, my wife I were driving up the NJ turnpike to attend my 30th reunion at West Point. We saw the aftermath of a small sports car zipping through traffic and the driver was beheaded when he went under a steadily moving semi. Semi truck drivers tend to be professional and courteous. Many car, pickup and SUV drivers are not.
While each death is tragic and grievous to those involved, the priorities of our national leaders are focused in other areas. May God have mercy on this nation.
Thanks for mentioning me COL Mikel J. Burroughs
Thanks for being a safe driver SPC (Join to see)
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MAJ Rene De La Rosa
MAJ Rene De La Rosa
>1 y
Agree with you on the infrastructure needs, LTC Stephen Ford. These are necessary items that we have tended to underfund because we don't like to pay for things. This will soon come home to roost!
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PO2 Peter Klein
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I suspect that no change has happened because the rail and trucking industries lobby Congress so they will not have to spend the money needed for implementation.
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