| Title | Effect of Gate Skirts on Pedestrian Behavior at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 50989 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Chase, Stephanie; Gabree, Scott; daSilva, Marco P. |
| Source | 43p. in various pagings |
| Corporate Creator | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Corporate Contributor |
United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development |
| Publisher | United States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development |
| Publication Date | 20131231 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | The Federal Railroad Administration was interested in evaluating one type of pedestrian safety device, commonly known as gate skirts, that consists of a secondary horizontal hanging gate under the existing pedestrian gate to better block access to the crossing by pedestrians who gain unauthorized entry by going under the down gates. The Volpe Center participated in a New Jersey Transit rail pilot project to evaluate a prototype design installed at a grade crossing in Matawan, NJ, on May 30, 2012. The purpose of this evaluation was to determine if the addition of gate skirting would result in fewer pedestrians attempting to violate the crossing on the sidewalk after the gates began to descend. Data were collected over a 2-week period before and a 2-week period after the installation of the gate skirts. Pedestrian actions were coded during all train activations that occurred during this 4-week period. The research team found that the total number of pedestrian violations decreased while the gates were descending (78 percent reduction) and horizontal (55 percent reduction), but increased while the gates were ascending (12 percent increase). Additionally, after the installation of the gate skirts, more pedestrians who violated while the gates were descending or horizontal chose to do so in the adjacent street where there were no gate skirts, as opposed to on the sidewalk where the safety enhancement had been added. |
| Rosap ID | dot:11997 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/11997 |
| TRT Terms | Grade crossing protection systems; Railroad grade crossings; Pedestrians; Behavior; Risk taking; Prototype tests |
| General Subjects | Gate skirts; Pedestrian behavior; Train activation; Research Hub; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure |
| Classification | AGR - SAFETY AND SECURITY - SAFETY AND SECURITY; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - RAIL TRANSPORTATION; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Railroad Highway Grade Crossings; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Safety; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Rail Safety; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - SAFETY AND SECURITY |
| Geographical Coverage |
New Jersey; United States |
| TRIS Online Accession No |
1505127 |
| Contract Number | RR97A6/KT925; RR97A6/LT925 |
| Report Number | DOT-VNTSC-FRA-13-01; DOT/FRA/ORD-13/51 |
| Availability | Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/50000/50900/50989/Effect_of_Gate_Skirts_20131227.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |