ITS Applications to Railroad Crossing Safety:
A Summary of U.S. Activities
by
Amy Polk Gribbon
Systems Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
525 School St., S.W., Suite 203, Washington, D.C. 20024
Tel: (202) 426-9250 | Fax: (202) 426-9355
e-mail: AGribbon@jpl.nasa.gov
Accidents at rail-highway grade crossings are an extremely serious problem throughout the United States. The most notorious railroad crossing accident in recent years occurred on October 25, 1995 when a Chicago & North Western commuter train crashed into a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, killing seven high school students. ITS technology has the potential to improve safety at railroad crossings and help prevent accidents like the Fox River Grove crash in the future.
The federal government responded to the Fox River Grove incident in
several ways. U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena included railroad
crossings as one of the eight components of an Intelligent Transportation
Infrastructure which should be incorporated into the transportation systems
of the 21st century. In the National Highway System bill of 1995 Congress
required the Federal
Railroad Administration (FRA) to conduct two demonstrations of ITS-railroad
crossings technology. Congress earmarked $1.25 million to an ITS-railroad
crossing project in the FY96 Transportation Appropriations bill. In May
1996, the ITS
Joint Program Office of the U.S.
Department of Transportation designated "Highway Rail
Intersections"
as the 30th ITS user service within
the National
ITS Program Plan.
Yet even before the Fox River Grove crash, the FRA, academia and several
state departments of transportation were exploring the application of ITS
to railroad crossing safety. This paper presents a summary of ITS-railroad
crossing applications in the United States. Projects in California, Colorado,
Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, New York and Washington state are among those
profiled. The paper concludes with recommendations on how these disparate
activities can coordinate their efforts and take advantage of the lessons
learned in each particular test.
Prior to the Fox River Grove incident, the most prominent federal effort
toward improving railroad-crossing safety was the publication of the Rail-Highway
Crossing Safety Action Plan (1). The Federal
Railroad Administration, Federal
Highway Administration, Federal
Transit Administration and National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration co-authored the plan. The action
plan contained 13 broad categories of recommendations to improve crossing
safety. Technological innovation was one of those categories, showing that
the U.S. Department of Transportation recognizes advanced technologies
as one solution to the rail-highway grade crossing safety problem.
In response to the Fox River Grove crash in October 1995, U.S. Secretary
of Transportation formed the Task Force of Highway-Rail Crossing Safety
to examine factors which may have contributed to that crash and other factors
which may have been overlooked while drafting the Action Plan. The Task
Force heard testimony on the following issues: interconnected signals and
storage space, high-profile (i.e. bumpy) crossings, light rail transit
crossings, and special vehicle operations such as gasoline tankers. Inadequate
coordination between the train detection sensor and the cross street's
traffic signal ("interconnect" in railroad terminology), and
irregular road geometry gave the 38-foot school bus little space or time
to clear crossing, federal investigator John Goglia told a Chicago newspaper
the day after the crash (2). The Task Force concluded that there is a lack
of standards, coordination and communication on all these issues. The Task
Force recommended that state DOT's provide needed coordination and communication
and charged national transportation engineering organizations to set needed
standards quickly (3). The National Transportation Safety Board's report
on the crash (4), published in the spring of 1997, reached similar conclusions.
Los Angeles Metro Blue Line
The Los Angeles Metro Blue Line began testing automatic enforcement
of lowered gates running in 1993, making this agency the first in the country
to implement this particular technology at railroad crossings. Metro has
since expanded the Blue Line program to a number of separate projects designed
to enhance public safety at the more than 100 crossings along this commuter
rail line. The automatic enforcement equipment, which takes pictures of
license plates of vehicles which drive around lowered gates, was provided
by U.S. Public Technologies, Inc. The 1993 tests show that violations decreased
92% at monitored crossings (5). Metro is also engaged in the testing and
development of four quadrant gates which help prevent motorists from getting
stuck between two lowered gates, new methods of train detection such as
Global Position Systems (GPS) and side-mounted radar, the RAILSENTRY system
which uses radar to notify locomotive conductors that a vehicle is stuck
on the tracks, and "second train" warning signs for pedestrians
and motorists. Most accidents at Blue Line crossings are with second trains.
Vehicle Proximity Alert System (VPAS)
In 1994, the FRA tested three independently developed systems which
detect the presence of an on-coming train and broadcast that information
to a display inside specially-equipped vehicles. Testing took place at
the American Association of Railroads test track in Pueblo, Colorado (6).
Equipment provided by Smart Stops Unlimited, Inc. (formerly Engineered
Safety Products) and Dynamic Vehicle Safety Systems (DVSS) were identified
as the most promising technologies and were selected for a second phase
of testing on a live track. FRA has located potential test sites in Oregon
and North Carolina. Phase II testing is scheduled to begin in early 1998.
Long Island, New York
General Railway Signal (GRS), in a partnership with the New York State
Department of Transportation, is developing several technologies which
will provide better warnings of the presence of an on-coming train at and
around railroad crossings. GRS is engaged in the testing and development
of a system which will prevent gates from being lowered if the train has
tripped a sensor but is stopped at a station upstream, variable message
signs which will inform drivers that trains are approaching on which -
of multiple - tracks, and systems which will inform locomotive conductors
if a vehicle is stalled on the tracks (6). This $8 million project is being
funded equally by public and private funds, including $1.25 million in
Congressional ITS earmarking in the FY96 Transportation Appropriations
bill. Once developed, the new crossing safety technologies will be tested
on the Long Island Railroad.
Minnesota Guidestar
The Minnesota Department of Transportation, in partnership with 3M Corporation
and Dynamic Vehicle Safety Systems (DVSS), are developing a system which
will warn specially equipped vehicles of an on-coming train via an in-vehicle
display. The system uses 3M's wireless vehicle and roadside communication
antennas which can be built into the familiar crossbuck, "RXR"
sign and front vehicle license plate. The trackside unit picks up a signal
from the railroad's train detection electronics and transmits that signal
to 3M's antenna-signs. The in-vehicle display, provided by DVSS, will alert
drivers using both visual and audible signals (8). The system will be tested
on school buses at five Twin Cities and Western Railroad crossings in Glencoe,
Minnesota during the 1997/1998 school year. Minnesota Guidestar - Minnesota's
statewide ITS program - is providing $150,000 in public sector funding.
The private sector firms are funding the development of the equipment and
donating use of the system components during the one-year test.
Positive Train Separation (PTS)
This project builds upon the Positive Train Separation test initiated
by Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroads following a
head-on collision between two trains belonging to each of the railroads.
GPS receivers are installed on locomotives; their movements are tracked
to keep the trains from running into each other (9). The Texas Transportation
Institute is currently developing algorithms to integrate information about
train locations and speeds into metropolitan area traffic management systems,
thereby reducing delays for drivers - especially those of emergency vehicles
- at railroad crossings. The PTS project runs throughout Washington state.
The metro area test of traffic management algorithms will be conducted
in Seattle.
Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee ITS Priority Corridor
On August 1996, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) issued
a Request for Proposals to provide in-vehicle warning system, similar to
what is being developed by the FRA and Minnesota Guidestar. The in-vehicle
warning displays will be installed in over 300 emergency vehicles, school
buses and some passenger cars. The trackside equipment will be installed
at six crossings along the Metra commuter rail line near Chicago. In May
1997, IDOT selected a team lead by Raytheon E-Systems and consisting of
Cobra Electronics and Calspan SRL to supply both in-vehicle and trackside
equipment. The system will be tested during the 1997/1998 school year (10).
The one-year test is being funded as part of the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee
ITS Priority Corridor project.
Model Deployment Initiatives
A few months after the Fox River Grove crash, Secretary Pena announced
the Model Deployment program - funding for a few metro areas to implement
several integrated ITS elements quickly and become showcases for other
cities to follow. The application of ITS technologies to railroad crossing
safety was among nine core ITS elements to be integrated. In August 1996,
the San Antonio, New York City, Phoenix and Seattle metropolitan areas
were selected among 23 applicants. The railroad crossing component of each
proposal is different for each city. In San Antonio, four trains will be
equipped with monitors and an unspecified number of crossings will be equipped
with infrared cameras. Wireless communications will enable the train operator
to see obstacles - such as stopped vehicles - in the crossing well in advance
and bring the train to a stop accordingly. The total cost for this component
of the San Antonio proposal is $600,000, with $290,000 provided by the
Texas Department of Transportation, $290,000 by the USDOT and $20,000 by
Union Pacific Railroad (11). The New York proposal does not request funding
for new ITS-railroad crossing projects, but states that the Model Deployment
initiative will coordinate with two existing projects: the Long Island
Railroad project (described above) and a crossing video surveillance project
similar to San Antonio's (12). Like New York, Phoenix will coordinate their
Model Deployment efforts with two existing projects: a test of video surveillance
at crossings and including data from railroad interconnects between crossings
and traffic signals in information distributed to motorists (13). The Seattle
initiative will use some form of detection, still to be selected, to determine
when a train is blocking the crossing. The status of the blocked crossing
will be included in the information given out through a motorist information
telephone (14).
Other Initiatives
Research into how information about train locations and speed can be
integrated into metropolitan traffic management systems is also being conducted
in Houston, as part of the Houston ITS Priority Corridor project. Like
the Metro Blue Line in Los Angeles and General Railway Signal in New York,
Oregon State University (OSU) is currently investigating technologies which
will provide better warning of the presence of an on-coming train at and
around railroad crossings along the Oregon High Speed Rail Corridor. OSU
is examining automatic enforcement of lowered-gate running, four quadrant
gates which help prevent motorists from getting stuck between two lowered
gates, and variable message warning signs.
In June 1995, as part of its Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis
(IDEA) program, the Transportation Research Board solicited proposals for
the development of new technologies which will detect the presence and
speed of on-coming trains, warn locomotive conductors that a vehicle is
stopped on the tracks, warn drivers of the presence of an on-coming train
via an in-vehicle display and "out-vehicle warning systems".
These technologies will provide better warning of the presence of an on-coming
train at and around railroad crossings. Seven proposals were selected from
twelve submitted. Responses to a new round of solicitations are due at
the end of March 1997 (15).
Railroad crossing safety is a young and relatively disorganized application
area of ITS. The people involved in similar projects are just beginning
to learn of each other so that they can take advantage of one another's
mistakes and successes. In June this past year, the Federal Railroad Administration
and ITS
America jointly sponsored a technical symposium on ITS and their applications
for railroad operations. Organized by the Volpe National Transportation
Systems Center, the symposium was attended by railroads, state DOT's, universities,
other divisions of the federal government, and national not-profit organizations
such as the American Association of Railroads and Operation Lifesaver.
The meeting took a large step in making the ITS industry aware of railroads'
needs and the railroad industry aware of the capabilities of ITS technologies.
Subsequent meetings and similar endeavors will fulfill the needed role
of national coordination of ITS-railroad crossing activities.
1. Rail-Highway Crossing Safety Action Plan Support Proposals, (U.S.
Department of Transportation: Washington, D.C., June 13, 1995), p. 20.
2. Washburn, Gary, et. al, "U.S. 14 Widening Created A Squeeze
Too Tight For Bus", Chicago Tribune, October 27, 1995, pp. A1-A8.
3. Accidents that Shouldn't Happen: A Report by the U.S.DOT Task Force
on Highway-Rail Crossing Safety to U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico
Pena, (U.S. Department of Transportation: Washington, D.C., March 1996),
pp. 17-31.
4. Highway/Railroad Accident Report: Collision of Northeast Illinois
Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (METRA) Train and Transportation
Joint Agreement School District 47/155 School Bus at Railroad/Highway Grade
Crossing in Fox River Grove, Illinois, on October 25, 1995, (National Transportation
Safety Board, Washington, D.C., 1997), p 56.
5. "Photo Enforcement Proves Very Effective", Urban Transportation
Monitor, March 9, No. 5, March 17, 1995, pp. 1-7.
6. Report on the Evaluation of Engineered Safety Products' VPAS System,
(Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Cambridge, MA, November
16, 1995).
7. Research and Development Project for the Application of An Advanced
Communications-Based Control System at Highway-Rail Interfaces, (New York
State Department of Transportation: Albany, NY, 1995).
8. "Mn/DOT, Private Firms Seek to Test HRI Warning System",
Inside ITS, July 15, 1996.
9. Fact Sheet 17 Advanced Highway-Rail Crossing Warning Systems, (ITS
America: Washington, D.C., 1995)
10. "Raytheon will test Cobra Warning System on Illinois Railroad",
Inside ITS, June 2, 1997, pp. 2-6.
11. TransGuide Technology in Motion: ITS Model Deployment Initiative
Proposal, (Texas Department of Transportation: San Antonio, TX, April 1996),
pp. 47-49.
12. The New York, New Jersey, Connecticut Region's Model Deployment
of Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure, (New York State Department
of Transportation: Albany, NY, April 20, 1996).
13. AZTech Model Deployment Initiative for the Phoenix Metropolitan
Area, (Arizona Department of Transportation: Phoenix, AZ, April 30, 1996),
p. 28.
14. Application for Participation in the Intelligent Transportation
Systems Model Deployment Initiative, (Washington State Department of Transportation:
Seattle, WA, April 25, 1997), p. 21.
15. Request for Proposals on Advanced Rail Technologies, (Transportation
Research Board: Washington, D.C., June 1995).
Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee
ITS Priority Corridor
Vehicle Proximity Alert System (VPAS)
Long Island, New York
Positive Train Separation (PTS)
Model Deployment
Initiative