| Title | Success factors in the reduction of highway-rail grade crossing incidents |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 33555 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Horton, Suzanne M. |
| Source | 12p. in various pagings |
| Corporate Creator | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Publisher | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Publication Date | 20091109 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | Between the years 1994 and 2007, incidents at highway-rail grade crossings declined by 44.7 percent. The reasons for this decline were unidentified. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Research & Innovative Technology Administration’s (RITA) John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), under the direction of the USDOT Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Office of Research and Development (R&D), conducted a study to identify the salient success factors in highway-rail grade crossing incident reduction. The study was conducted in two parts. In the first part of the study, an examination of the reduction of highway-rail grade crossing incidents during the 1994 to 2003 time period was completed. In the second part of the study, an analysis of success factors for the 2003 through 2007 time period was completed. The first part of the study identified five factors as major contributors to the reduction in highway-rail grade crossing incidents from 1994 to 2003. These five factors (Commercial Driver Safety, Locomotive Conspicuity, More Reliable Motor Vehicles, Sight Lines Clearance, and the Grade Crossing Maintenance Rule) impacted 54 percent of the incidents and accounted for 79 percent of the reduction in incidents. The second part of the study analyzed the effects of those factors on grade crossing safety from 2003 to 2007 and identified any factors whose impact began after 2003. This effort revealed that regulations and rulemakings had a positive effect on the number of incidents, but the benefit diminished over time. By 2007, the number of incidents attributed to the major factors from 1994 to 2003 had leveled off. The study also unveiled positive impacts from the passing of the final rule on freight car reflectorization in 2005. |
| Rosap ID | dot:8686 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/8686 |
| TRT Terms | Railroad grade crossings; Grade crossing protection systems; Incident management |
| Classification | NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Safety; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Railroad Highway Grade Crossings |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| Availability | Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/33000/33500/33555/Success_Factors_TRB_Paper_1_.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |