I have always been a bit nonplussed by the people who periodically throw themselves in front of Skytrain (light rapid transit) cars.
You sorta wish that (outside of getting needed help) people might find a way to get the job done that doesn’t disrupt the commute of thousands of other people.
I think if I made that decision I would look for an accessible high place. It would hurt less, and it wouldn’t inconvenience anyone apart from the poor blighters that had to clean up. “But of course people that are that desperate aren’t thinking rationally or beyond their immediate situation, and the train platform is an easily accessible option that’s right there in front of them” comes the natural rationalization.
That was shaken up for me a bit yesterday, though. As I waited for the bus that takes us down to the Skytrain station - I saw nothing but diesel buses running. (Vancouver uses electric trolley buses, and the one we were waiting for was one of these.)
The diesel buses that were running along our route weren’t stopping - they were all flying “Not in Service” standards or were totally different routes that shouldn’t be on our street at all. Blazing past. Total anarchy. Are usually empty stop had eight people waiting at it.
After standing there open-mouthed for fifteen minutes or so, we gave up and started walking the twenty blocks to the train station. As we did, we found that the bus stops all had crowds of people gormlessly waiting for pick-up.
It wasn’t until later in the afternoon that we discovered what had crippled the bus service: This guy.
He somehow managed to climb a traffic light pole, scurrey out over the intersection, and was threatening to kill himself by jumping onto the trolley bus wires. Of course they had to cut power to the trolley grid until they could talk him down.
I can barely comprehend how much extra trouble this fellow had to go to cripple transit service for so many people. It’s not like standing on a train platform as the train approaches and thinking, “I just have to take one step forward…”
No, “All I have to do is shimmey up this frictionless metal pole, monkey across horizontally, and then throw myself onto the transit lines…”
Not even just in front of a damned bus. That would only slow down ~30 people or so.
Eeesh.
