Technology

Amtrak to Operate System that Might Have Prevented Crash

Published

9 years ago

May 14, 2015

Oakland Post

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Joan Lowy, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The deadly Amtrak derailment near Philadelphia appears to be yet another accident that didn’t have to happen.

It could have been avoided if a long-sought safety technology had been operating on its tracks and trains, according to information gathered by accident investigators.

On Thursday, Amtrak President Joseph Boardman said the nation’s passenger railroad will begin operating the technology, called positive train control, throughout its busy Northeast Corridor by the end of the year. The technology was installed on the tracks where the accident occurred, but it had not been turned on because further testing was needed, he said in an interview.

Seven years ago, Congress gave Amtrak and freight and commuter railroads until the end of this year to install the technology, on their trains and tracks. But few railroads are expected to meet the deadline. Now lawmakers are proposing to give railroads another five to seven years to get the task done.

The technology used by most railroads relies on GPS, wireless radio and computers to monitor train position. Amtrak’s system uses transponders, which emit transmit information through radio signals. Both types of systems can automatically brake to prevent derailments due to excessive speed, collisions with other trains, trains entering track where maintenance is being done or going the wrong way because of a switching mistake. It’s all aimed at preventing human error, which is responsible for about 40 percent of train accidents.

A preliminary review of the Amtrak train’s event data recorder, or “black box,” shows it was traveling at 106 mph in an 80 mph zone just before it entered a curve where the speed limit is 50 mph, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigators. The train’s engineer applied maximum braking power seconds before the crash, but it was too late.

At least eight people were killed and about 200 injured in the derailment.

“We are very keen on positive train control,” NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt. If such a system had been in operation, “this accident would not have occurred,” he told reporters.

The Philadelphia accident shares similarities with a 2013 derailment in New York on the Sunday morning after Thanksgiving. A Metro-North commuter train derailed in the Bronx, killing four and injuring dozens of others. The train’s engineer had fallen asleep and failed to slow the train from 82 mph to the maximum authorized speed of 30 mph as it entered a curve. An NTSB investigation concluded that crash would also have been prevented by positive train control.

Not counting Tuesday’s derailment, the NTSB has investigated 29 passenger and freight train accidents that officials say could have been prevented by positive train control since 2004. Sixty-eight people died and more than 1,100 were injured in those crashes. The board has been urging installation of the technology, or its precursors, for 45 years.

In 2008, a month after a commuter train and a freight train collided in Chatsworth, California, killing 25 people, Congress passed a law requiring that positive train control be installed by Dec. 31, 2015. But railroads have long complained that complications will prevent them from meeting that deadline.

In March, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a bill that would give railroads until 2020 to install the technology, and another two years after that if they need more time. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which opposed the bill, complained at the time that some of its provisions would make it virtually impossible for federal regulators to ever force freight railroads to implement the technology.

The bill’s key sponsors — Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. — have each received more than $100,000 in contributions to their campaigns and political committees from the rail industry over the course of their careers in Congress, according to the political money-tracking website OpenSecrets.org.

Several of the senators said in statements or through their aides that reports by government agencies show railroads need more time. One of the hurdles is getting all the railroads to agree on systems that will work on everyone’s tracks despite differing policies and operations. Such interoperability is necessary because freight railroads frequently operate on each other’s tracks. Commuter railroads and Amtrak also often operate on freight rail tracks.

Amtrak has been one of the more aggressive railroads in installing the technology. So far, the system is in operation from Boston to New Haven, Connecticut; from New Brunswick to Trenton in New Jersey, and from Perryville, Maryland, to Washington. It has also been installed on some routes in the Midwest. Amtrak has spent $110.7 million since 2008 to install PTC.

An older, less-robust technology that can also slow trains if they go too fast called automatic train control was installed on southbound tracks through the area where the derailment occurred, Boardman said. However, the technology was never added to northbound tracks through the site because many years ago a decision was made that it was unlikely a train would be going fast enough to risk derailment, he said.

“For decades we have seen preventable derailments and collisions occur,” said former NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “If we do not implement technology such as PTC to prevent these events, we will continue to see them for the foreseeable future.”

One of the obstacles is the cost to industry of implementing positive train control, estimated at more than $10 billion. A Republican-controlled House panel approved deep spending cuts to Amtrak’s budget on Wednesday just hours after the Philadelphia accident. An attempt by Democratic lawmakers to boost Amtrak spending by $1 billion was rebuffed.

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Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Google’s New Deal with California Lawmakers and Publishers Will Fund Newsrooms, Explore AI

Gov. Gavin Newsom, California lawmakers and some newspaper publishers last week finalized a $172 million deal with tech giant Google to support local news outlets and artificial intelligence innovation. This deal, the first of its kind in the nation, aims to invest in local journalism statewide over the next five years. However, the initiative is different from a bill proposed by two legislators, news publishers and media employee unions requiring tech giants Google and Meta to split a percentage of ad revenue generated from news stories with publishers and media outlets.

Published

1 week ago

October 1, 2024

Oakland Post

iStock

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

This deal, the first of its kind in the nation, aims to invest in local journalism statewide over the next five years. However, the initiative is different from a bill proposed by two legislators, news publishers and media employee unions requiring tech giants Google and Meta to split a percentage of ad revenue generated from news stories with publishers and media outlets. Under this new deal, Google will commit $55 million over five years into a new fund administered by the University of California, Berkeley to distribute to local newsrooms. In this partnership, the State is expected to provide $70 over five years toward this initiative. Google also has to pay a lump sum of $10 million annually toward existing grant programs that fund local newsrooms.

The State Legislature and the governor will have to approve the state funds each year. Google has agreed to invest an additional $12.5 million each year in an artificial intelligence program. However, labor advocates are concerned about the threat of job losses as a result of AI being used in newsrooms.

Julie Makinen, board chairperson of the California News Publishers Association, acknowledged that the deal is a sign of progress.

“This is a first step toward what we hope will become a comprehensive program to sustain local news in the long term, and we will push to see it grow in future years,” said Makinen.

However, the deal is “not what we had hoped for when set out, but it is a start and it will begin to provide some help to newsrooms across the state,” she said.

Regina Brown Wilson, Executive Director of California Black Media, said the deal is a commendable first step that beats the alternative: litigation, legislation or Google walking from the deal altogether or getting nothing.

“This kind of public-private partnership is unprecedented. California is leading the way by investing in protecting the press and sustaining quality journalism in our state,” said Brown Wilson. “This fund will help news outlets adapt to a changing landscape and provide some relief. This is especially true for ethnic and community media journalists who have strong connections to their communities.”

Although the state partnered with media outlets and publishers to secure the multi-year deal, unions advocating for media workers argued that the news companies and lawmakers were settling for too little.

Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) proposed a bill earlier this year that aimed to hold tech companies accountable for money they made off news articles. But big tech companies pushed back on bills that tried to force them to share profits with media companies.

McGuire continues to back efforts that require tech companies to pay media outlets to help save jobs in the news industry. He argued that this new deal, “lacks sufficient funding for newspapers and local media, and doesn’t fully address the inequities facing the industry.”

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U.S. DOT Awards California Nearly $150M for EV Charging and Fueling Infrastructure

The United States Department of Transportation has awarded $149.7 million to California to build its zero-emission vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced last week. “Decarbonizing the transportation and goods movement sectors is essential for fighting the climate crisis and protecting public health in communities along busy corridors,” said Padilla. The funding includes $100 million for medium and heavy-duty zero emissions vehicles. The funding is being managed by the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program under the Federal Highway Administration (FHA).

Published

4 weeks ago

September 11, 2024

Oakland Post

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

“Decarbonizing the transportation and goods movement sectors is essential for fighting the climate crisis and protecting public health in communities along busy corridors,” said Padilla.

The funding includes $100 million for medium and heavy-duty zero emissions vehicles. The funding is being managed by the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program under the Federal Highway Administration (FHA).

The federal agency was created by the bipartisan infrastructure law to fund development projects. The state’s Department of Transportation will receive $102.4 million for its West Coast Truck Charging and Fueling Corridor Project. The charging and fueling stations will be developed for zero-emissions medium and heavy-duty vehicles along 2,500 miles of key freight corridors in California, Oregon, and Washington. The project aims to transport goods between major ports and freight centers and agricultural regions along the West Coast.

Several Democratic leaders urged U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to support the zero-emissions project. The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program also aims to deploy electric vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure in publicly accessible locations to help underserved and disadvantaged communities.

“To successfully meet California’s critical climate goals, we need to scale up our charging and fueling infrastructure up and down the state through transformative projects like the West Coast Truck Charging and Fueling Corridor Project,” Padilla added.

Additional government agencies and organizations in California were awarded up to $15 million to invest in sustainable transportation infrastructure. They include the Fort Independence Indian Community, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, and the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians.

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California Black Media

Nvidia Announces Partnership With California Black Media 

Nvidia, the tech leader in artificial intelligence and the third largest corporation in the world — valued at around $3.06 trillion – announced last week that it is partnering with California Black Media (CBM) to create a critical resource that will support Black-owned newspapers in the state.

Published

1 month ago

August 28, 2024

Oakland Post

File photo.

By Tanu Henry, California Black Media

Nvidia, the tech leader in artificial intelligence and the third largest corporation in the world — valued at around $3.06 trillion – announced last week that it is partnering with California Black Media (CBM) to create a critical resource that will support Black-owned newspapers in the state.

The same week, Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, also announced a partnership with the state that will train educators and students across California.

“The public-private collaboration supports the state’s goals in workforce training and economic development by giving universities, community colleges and adult education programs in California the resources to gain skills in generative AI,” the Nvidia statement read.

With CBM, Nvidia will “train a large language model on nearly a century of journalism by Black journalists in the state.”

“We are excited to collaborate with NVIDIA to empower publishers in our sector,” said Regina Wilson, Executive Director of CBM. “This partnership places the Black Press at the forefront of journalism and technology, unlocking innovative opportunities that will drive the future of our industry.”