Denise Givens knows first-hand that safety around Metro's light rail trains is a team effort.

One day last summer, when she was running late and didn't want to miss the train, she nearly stepped in front of a light rail vehicle traveling the other direction.

"They say your life flashes before your eyes, and that's true," Givens chuckled.

She owns up to the fact she almost sealed her own fate by not paying attention, but every time she hears about a collision or fatality, it nags at her that something more could be done. One more blast of the horn that could have warned pedestrians and cyclists. A bright light. Perhaps swing gates or turnstiles that lock.

"People are so distracted - something to get their attention," she said.

Transit officials are paying attention. After two recent fatalities along the Red Line by bicyclists who pedaled in front of trains, Metro and others are looking at fixes - large and small - to what they concede is a growing safety problem for pedestrians and cyclists.

Trains are going to be repainted to make them more visible. Safety signs will be added, and trains already have started using their horns as they pull into stations. With more time and money, officials are considering changes to how pedestrians and bicyclists cross the train tracks and local streets.

"Nothing, and I mean nothing, is off the table," Metro CEO Tom Lambert said.

The safety message comes as Metro finds itself atop a dubious list as the light rail system with the nation's most collisions. Based on 2016 incidents reported through November to the Federal Transit Administration, Metro led the nation with 31 significant light rail collisions, six more than the much-larger Los Angeles County system.

Nine of those collisions in Houston were between a light rail vehicle and a person, such as a pedestrian or bicyclist. Only Dallas - again, a much-larger light rail system - had more collisions with nonmotorists, with a dozen strikes between trains and people.

The Houston deaths were deemed unavoidable by the train operator.

Rice University professor Marjorie Corcoran was killed Feb. 3 at Hermann Park and Sunset after being struck by a train on her way to work. The train was traveling 26 mph, according to Metro estimates, well within the 35 mph maximum speed advised for the area. The operator's attempt to stop lowered the speed to 21 mph, Metro estimated, when the train collided with Corcoran.

Two days later, a train traveling 34 mph struck Bilal Muslim, 60, as he pedaled his bicycle along the tracks near Loop 610 as the Super Bowl was going on nearby. Prior to the accident, the train was traveling 39 mph, just below the 40 mph maximum speed for the area.

Quick fixes

After the accidents, Metro re-evaluated its safety efforts, starting with changes that could happen in a matter of days. Train operators were instructed to blow the horn, not just the bell usually used to signal a station stop, so pedestrians and bicyclists would have more warning.

Metro is gradually trying to make trains more visible as well, outfitting many with blue and red reflective striping that makes the gray trains less likely to blend into the background. Eventually, Lambert said all 76 Metro trains will have decals on both ends so they stand out.

Prominent signs urging walkers and bike riders to look both ways were placed at the light rail stop near where Corcoran was killed on Feb. 3 as she rode her bike from Hermann Park toward campus, across the tracks. Metro also placed new warning signs at train platforms and on the vehicles and last week painted the crosswalk at the train station and the tracks along the platform red.

And in recent public meetings and news conferences, transit officials have stressed the same safety messages they have put on signs at rail stations, taken to schools with public awareness campaigns and even devoted television commercials to: Stay alert and stay alive.

"Everyone who walks, drives or rides a bike has a responsibility for safety," Metro chairwoman Carrin Patman said during a news conference to push out more reminders and public service announcements.

Improved public service campaigns and bigger signs can only go so far, critics and even transit supporters say.

"Education is really important," said John Long, chairman of BikeHouston, which is advocating for improved bike facilities in the region to improve safety. "At the same time … there are design approaches that we ought to be able to take so that an error in judgment - an absent-minded mistake - shouldn't lead to your death."

Designing for danger

Though Metro is looking at options across the entire 22-mile light rail system, efforts have concentrated toward corrections at Sunset, which many consider Metro's trickiest train crossing.

The rail stop, which serves Hermann Park and Rice University, requires someone coming from the park to cross northbound traffic on Fannin, then the rail line, then southbound Fannin. After a few steps across a grassy divider, pedestrians and bicyclists must then cross six lanes of Main Street before reaching the edge of the Rice campus.

With traffic and trains coming and going, multiple walk signals and turning vehicles, the crossing can be overwhelming and time-consuming.

In some recent tests by Long and others, following walk/don't walk signals across the crossing can take more than five minutes to cover a distance of less than 250 feet.

"About two thirds of pedestrians and cyclists do not obey the signals because it takes a long time," said Tim Kelly, Metro's executive vice president for operations, public safety and customer service.

Improving that requires balancing a lot of factors. Main and Fannin both carry heavy amounts of traffic into the Texas Medical Center just south of Hermann Park. Keeping cars moving is a must, though city officials said they would review any changes Metro and others suggested for the interchange.

Different approaches

Houston is hardly the only place struggling with keeping people safe around its rail lines, though other areas appear to have more success. Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego and Minneapolis - all of which have comparable light rail and transit systems to Houston - have had fewer collisions for the past three years.

Each has also tackled safety with design decisions different than Houston. In Minneapolis and Sacramento, most of the light rail lines do not share city streets, which reduces how vehicles and pedestrians cross the tracks.

In Phoenix - a system very similar to Houston's that runs for roughly 26 miles mostly alongside or in the center of busy streets - an official credited successful public awareness messaging with reducing incidents.

Susan Tierney, communications manager for Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority, said before trains started running in 2008, officials launched robust education campaigns. The same was done during two extensions of the system.

"It was just a constant reminder that you need to pay attention to your surroundings," Tierney said.

Minneapolis, following some collisions in 2015, made changes to its educational programs and its trains, said Mike Conlon, director of rail and bus safety for Metro Transit. Flashing, or wig-wag lights, on trains were successful in making them more visible to drivers and pedestrians, he said.

Minneapolis also uses illuminated signs to warn when trains are coming, something Metro in Houston does via traffic light signs and a red band around signals in downtown.

Sacramento and San Diego also have had success discouraging bicyclists from using the trains' right-of-way by laying some of the tracks in loose gravel or rock as opposed to concrete or bricks. The gravel makes using the tracks as a path less advantageous, even if street crossings remain paved.

In Houston, the trains follow mostly a paved path, with the notable exception of the tracks that cut through the fountain at Main Street Square in downtown.

No one has ever been struck in the fountain, based on a review of recent Metro collisions.

Ultimately, officials said rail safety must be a mix of safe design and strong messaging.

"We can do everything possible and if the public and our patrons do not pay attention to the warnings we provide it becomes a big challenge," Conlon said.