wyliepoon
Senior Member
Cheap blue lighting could be used to stop subway suicides instead of expensive platform screen doors? The TTC would love to hear this...
http://inventorspot.com/articles/japan_fights_train_station_suicide_blue_led_lighting_32608
Japan Fights Train Station Suicide with Blue LED Lighting
by Steve Levenstein
Feeling blue? Japan's railways and subways have come up with a bright idea to reduce the number of suicides at train stations: eerie blue LED lighting
that supposedly has a calming effect on suicidal psyches.
Suicides at Japanese train and subway stations are a sadly regular occurrence that, besides being a human tragedy, delay thousands of commuters who depend on the nation's famously punctual trains and subways.
How bad is it? Statistics compiled by one of the country's largest train companies, JR East, show that suicides occurring at it's stations rose from 42 in 2006 to 58 in 2007 and 68 in 2008 - a truly worrisome trend.
Train and subway system operators have installed anti-suicide barriers at many stations but as they don't stop those determined to end their lives so horrifically, the companies are trying out a new tactic: blue lighting on station platforms.
First used at crossings on West Japan Railway Co.'s Hanwa Line in December of 2006, banks of bright blue LED lights have begun to appear at stations in Yokohama, Saitama and Tokyo.
Although evidence that blue lighting actually can uplift the moods of suicidal individuals is hard to come by, Japan's railway lines are hoping that the rumored "calming effect" induced by the color blue will be enough to change at least a few minds and, as a result, save lives.
JR East has set its sights on Tokyo's ring-shaped, green-tinted Yamanote Line with 7 stations already equipped with blue LED platform lights. The company expects to finish installing the light banks on the remaining 22 stations on the line by the end of October, complementing the physical suicide barriers already in place.
http://inventorspot.com/articles/japan_fights_train_station_suicide_blue_led_lighting_32608
Japan Fights Train Station Suicide with Blue LED Lighting
by Steve Levenstein
Feeling blue? Japan's railways and subways have come up with a bright idea to reduce the number of suicides at train stations: eerie blue LED lighting
that supposedly has a calming effect on suicidal psyches.
Suicides at Japanese train and subway stations are a sadly regular occurrence that, besides being a human tragedy, delay thousands of commuters who depend on the nation's famously punctual trains and subways.
How bad is it? Statistics compiled by one of the country's largest train companies, JR East, show that suicides occurring at it's stations rose from 42 in 2006 to 58 in 2007 and 68 in 2008 - a truly worrisome trend.
Train and subway system operators have installed anti-suicide barriers at many stations but as they don't stop those determined to end their lives so horrifically, the companies are trying out a new tactic: blue lighting on station platforms.
First used at crossings on West Japan Railway Co.'s Hanwa Line in December of 2006, banks of bright blue LED lights have begun to appear at stations in Yokohama, Saitama and Tokyo.
Although evidence that blue lighting actually can uplift the moods of suicidal individuals is hard to come by, Japan's railway lines are hoping that the rumored "calming effect" induced by the color blue will be enough to change at least a few minds and, as a result, save lives.
JR East has set its sights on Tokyo's ring-shaped, green-tinted Yamanote Line with 7 stations already equipped with blue LED platform lights. The company expects to finish installing the light banks on the remaining 22 stations on the line by the end of October, complementing the physical suicide barriers already in place.
I could understand if they put it in the subway tunnels to replace the ageing fluorescent lighting which would make sense and look cool. But not on the subway platform.
