Yesterday the LA Times had a feature with my colleague from Viterbi Najmedin Meshkati discussing the physical design of LA’s new light rail:

Najmedin Meshkati, a professor and safety expert at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering, asserts that precautions at three crossings along the 7.9-mile route between downtown Los Angeles and the Westside are “woefully inadequate.”

Two of the crossings at Western and Denker avenues bracket the Foshay Learning Center, which has about 3,400 students in kindergarten through high school. Meshkati, who has studied the Expo project for years, says Metro needs to add signs at crosswalks specifically designed to warn children of oncoming trains.

He says there are more potential safety problems at Rodeo Road and Exposition Boulevard, where parallel streets cross forming an X, with Expo trains traveling at 35 to 40 mph cutting through a complex array of traffic signals, signs and pavement striping.

Great picture of him, too. I have no comments, as I know nothing here–just trying to get more people thinking about these issues.