| NuRail Project ID | NURail2012-UIC-R07 |
| Project Title | Railroad Grade Crossing Pedestrian Safety |
| University | UIC |
| Principal Investigator | Schlickman, Sriraj, Metaxatos |
| PI Contact Information | Phone: (312) 355-3656 Email: sschlick@uic.edu |
| Funding Source(s) and Amounts Provided (by each agency or organization) | $142,491 funds from CN; $0 USDOT RITA |
| Total Project Cost | $142,491 |
| Agency ID or Contract Number | DTRT12-G-UTC18 |
| Start Date | 6/1/2012 |
| End Date | 1/31/2014 |
| Brief Description of Research Project | Safety considerations for pedestrian rail grade crossing improvements require consistent industry design criteria and operating procedures. Current industry safety design standards for transit and freight rail crossings are inconsistent, variable, and sometimes absent, depending on which standards or guidelines are followed. Governmental agencies and private railroads approach grade crossing design and safety with different standards and philosophies. The objectives of this research are to: (1) review the breadth of current pedestrian grade crossing safety research, (2) catalog the wide variety of current approaches to providing safe pedestrian crossings, (3) analyze the different pedestrian crossing treatments and procedures to ascertain the best performing approaches, (4) review analysis standards and recommend a consistent approach. The research may include the following tasks: (Task 1) Review other research on pedestrian crossing safety. Use the results as a basis for the following work. (Task 2) Document current published industry pedestrian grade crossing guidelines, standards and operating procedures. (Task 3) Contact and interview key industry staff involved with pedestrian grade crossing safety to understand and catalog (a) key pedestrian safety concerns from their institutional or business perspective; (b) their recommendations of what works or does not work from their experience; and (c) their recommendations on how to improve pedestrian safety through standards and best practices. (Task 4) Analyze the work in Task (2) for commonalities and disparate approaches. Highlight the key safety components, similarities, and differences throughout the industry. Analysis of published standards will provide a more objective look at the what criteria and solutions are common, and what are contradictory or inconsistent. Compare this analysis with the verbal interviews from Task (3) to find the commonalities and discrepancies between published standards and industry insight of needed improvement. |
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| Web Links | Click HERE |
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| Project Website |