Public Transportation and Smart Growth

and saw something at my origin station two weeks ago that stunned me. The warning bells were ringing, the lights were flashing, and the gates were dropping. There was a train approaching from the north AND another one from the south, and both were sounding their horns urgently. I saw not one, not two, but THREE cars driving around the gates and toward a short driveway that featured a red light, so there was nowhere for the cars to go. The final car cleared the tracks (barely) with about three seconds to spare. There couldn't have been more than five feet between the back of that car, the trunk of which was still under the crossing gate, and the train. I was certain that I was about to witness a full-blown disaster only a few weeks after the fatal accident on the same line only four stops south.

I simply can't imagine what would be so urgent as to challenge a train for space on the tracks.