"Speed equals danger," said Tom Rubin, former risk management chief for the old Southern California Rapid Transit District, which was merged into the MTA.
"The basic problem is very simple: You don't put a high-speed rail line through a very dense urban area, such as South-Central Los Angeles and Long Beach, unless you have it absolutely totally grade separated. By that I mean you don't have crossing streets," said Rubin, based in Oakland. "Total grade separation would eliminate 90% plus of fatalities and 100% of train-auto collisions."
Money woes and system upheaval are huge barriers to the kind of massive capital works project that would be required to either bury or elevate the tracks.
Commuters now make 55,000 trips a day on the Blue Line. Because many of them are onetime bus riders who were switched to the trains, shutting down the train for any length of time would create serious problems because some of their old bus lines have been canceled.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, chairwoman of the MTA governing board, agrees with Cox and Rubin that grade separation would help. But she said money is a problem. She pointed to budget problems that brought a premature end to the county's subway construction program.
"Obviously, if you have over-ground or below-ground rail you'd have fewer accidents," she said. But, these days, she said, "Either you have no rail or you have it at grade."
With no major improvements in sight, those who ride or live close to the Blue Line are struggling to cope, sometimes none too pleasantly.
"I heard a thump and then saw a man's hat fly by the window and I said, 'Oh, my God, I think we've hit someone,' " said a longtime Blue Line rider, recalling one experience. A resident of Long Beach, she works at a downtown Los Angeles bank and asked that her name not be used.
Experienced Blue Line riders say accident-caused delays have led them to develop taxicab pools with fellow commuters for shared rides home. They map out alternate bus routes. They know relatives who can pick them up if things get bad enough.
Despite the accidents, there are complaints that the MTA is too slow in moving commuters off stricken trains.
"They have accidents all the time," said Compton resident Grace Flowers, who also works at a downtown Los Angeles bank. "I don't blame the MTA, but they should have contingency plans. We can be stuck on this thing two, three hours."
