San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller of Menlo Park wants to explore whether artificial intelligence, computer technology and cameras could be used to prevent suicides on Caltrain tracks.
On August 11, “a promising 17-year-old, Dylan Scirpo, lost his life in an apparent suicide on the Caltrain tracks in Menlo Park,” Mueller, a member of the Caltrain board, wrote in a memo to railroad officials.
“I make this proposal in his memory and in memory of all the others who have lost their lives before him in similar tragic ways, and in recognition of the trauma their families and Caltrain employees have suffered as a result of their deaths,” Mueller wrote.
Mueller wants Caltrain to solicit system proposals from AI labs at Stanford, Berkeley and San Jose State, as well as other potential vendors.
In 2015, Palo Alto replaced railroad crossing guards with thermal imaging cameras to detect people on the tracks.
In his memo, Mueller expressed hope that the system could identify people “who are dangerously close to or on the Caltrain tracks.”
He also hopes that the system will “identify people whose behavior indicates an intent to harm themselves.”
Mueller sent his memo to Caltrain CEO Michelle Bouchard. Presumably, it would be placed on the agenda of a future Caltrain meeting and discussed there. If the board approves the idea, Caltrain staff would write a “request for proposals” to those who could provide such a system. Caltrain would then review the various proposals.
