By Niki Cervantes
Staff Writer

January 20, 2016 -- Santa Monica police are hosting two sessions with the public aimed at teaching everyone from drivers to skateboarders how to co-exist safely with the Expo Light Rail, which makes its debut this spring.

Drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and other members of the public will be offered safety tips and additional information Wednesday night at Virginia Avenue Park’s Thelma Terry Center, 2200 Virginia Avenue, from 7 to 8 p.m. A second session is set for Wednesday, January 27, at the Main Library’s MLK Auditorium, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard, also from 7 to 8 p.m.

“We’re trying to raise awareness,” said Lauralee Asch, a crime prevention coordinator for the Santa Monica Police Department. “Nobody needs to be taking unnecessary chances.”

A final arrival date for Santa Monica’s light rail has not yet been set, although officials say it will be sometime this spring. Asch said officials will be on hand at both sessions with the public to discuss how the trains operate and at what speeds they are expected to travel.

Officials say there are two lessons in particular the public needs to keep in mind: Trains require 200 feet to come to a complete stop. And rain can make it harder to use emergency braking, and also slows the train operator’s response times.

In October, Metro Transit Authority staff reported that pedestrians and others in Santa Monica, which has not seen passenger rail in more than half a century, did not seem accustomed to accommodating trains.

Officials recorded more than 2,788 instances of pedestrians on the guideway from September 24 through October 26.

There were another 503 instances of bicyclists on the tracks and 153 skateboarders trespassing on the guideway, a report found.

Metro started testing trains in Santa Monica in August. The line will run from Culver City to downtown Santa Monica.

Although officials associated with the light rail system have engaged in a campaign to educate the public about living with rail lines, an “abnormally high number of people” continued to improperly cross the Colorado Avenue guideway,” City staff warned the City Council in December.

Early that month, the driver of an 18-wheel truck hauling diesel fuel made an illegal left at the Colorado-7th Street intersection, heading into the path of a train being tested. The train hit the side of tanker and subsequently derailed. The truck’s fuel tank ruptured, causing a small fuel leak, according to City firefighters.

The accident was the first in Santa Monica. No one was seriously injured. A week later, however, the City Council reversed its earlier stance and voted to install fencing around the rail line. Metro is to pay the estimated $450,000 cost.