01592850

Component

Texas, like most other states, witnessed a tremendous reduction in highway-rail grade crossing collisions since the early 1970s. This is due in large part to the federal Section 130 Program that began in 1973 that provides funding for the installation of active grade crossing devices such as lights and gates. The steady decline in collisions has leveled off for Texas and the U.S. as upgrades have occurred to the most dangerous crossings. Remaining is a large collection of crossings with similar characteristic and risk factors, making it more difficult to determine which crossings need safety improvements. In order to better determine which highway-rail grade crossings require upgrade to active devices or require further safety enhancements to already active crossings, Texas recognized that it needed to develop a new prioritization formula that would better identify the risks associated with each public at-grade crossing in the state. To accomplish this, TxDOT commissioned a research study with the objectives to develop a prioritization system for highway-rail at-grade crossings that addresses warrants to identify low-volume, passive crossings and a broader priority index that considers more variables than the original index. This paper addresses the effort to develop a new prioritization formula.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AHB60 Standing Committee on Highway/Rail Grade Crossings.

01584066

16-5427

English

17p

2016

Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting

Web

Figures; References (2) ; Tables

Crash rates; Crashes; Grade crossing protection systems; High risk locations; Railroad grade crossings

Texas

Highways; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2016 Paper #16-5427

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 6:21PM