Extreme weather impacting DART, MTA

Extreme weather impacting DART, MTA
July 20, 2022

With high heat impacting central parts of Texas and Oklahoma and heavy rains in New York City, transit agencies are taking steps to ensure safe service delivery.
Mischa Wanek-Libman




Extreme weather is impacting transit agencies in New York City, as well as in central Texas and Oklahoma. While media reports focus on the record heat affecting Europe, most of Oklahoma, central and eastern Texas, most of Arkansas, northern Louisiana and the western counties of Tennessee and Mississippi were under excessive Heat Warning from the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service Prediction Center said “scorching heat” would remain a concern over the next few days due to “a stagnant upper-level ridge” hovering over the Southwest.

In Oklahoma City, Okla., EMBARK published a list of cooling centers throughout the city, as well as which bus routes could be used to access them. The list also included cooling centers in Midwest City and Norman, Okla.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) will operate light-rail vehicles no more than 30 mph between 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. through Wednesday, July 20, due to the record high temperatures expected to impact north Texas. DART warns the speed restrictions could result in delays of 10-15 minutes.

Steel rails can be at greater risk of experiencing a thermal buckle under extreme heat conditions where reduced travel speeds can mitigate the risk. Rail systems with overhead wires can also experience sagging wires in extreme heat. Last summer, Portland Streetcar shared an image of damaged power cables caused by extreme heat. .............(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/safety-security/article/21274737/extreme-weather-impacting-dart-mta