ITS
technologies to improve highway-rail grade crossing safety
Principal
Investigator: Dr. Lei Yu
Sponsoring
Agency: Federal Highway
Administration DTFH61-00X-00089
Period:
August 21, 2000 ~ December 20, 2001
Research
Objective:
-
The
primary objective of this study is to survey the States and
local jurisdictions on ITS technologies they are using to
better warn motorists of an on-coming train, and to survey
applicable companies on other ITS technologies which may be
appropriate.
Based on the survey and available research, a
document will be prepared on the current “Best Practices”
for improving highway-rail grade crossings, recommendations
for additional experimentation, and guidance material on
which ITS technologies can be included in the Manual on
Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
The
following is a list of all main tasks and sub-tasks of the
project.
Task
1:
Survey state and local jurisdictions.
Task
1.1 Identify state and local jurisdictions for survey.
Task
1.2 Develop a survey instrument.
Task
1.3 Conduct the survey.
Task
2: Survey applicable ITS companies.
Task 2.1 Identify ITS companies for survey.
Task 2.2 Develop a survey instrument.
Task 2.3 Conduct the survey.
Task
3:
Analyze the survey data and review
state-of-the-art.
Task 3.1 Conduct a statistical analysis of surveys.
Task 3.2 Review state-of-the-art/practice.
Task 3.3 Identify the “best practices.”
Task
4:
Develop a document on “best practices.”
Task 4.1 Develop first draft on “best practices.”
Task 4.2 Develop the final document on “best
practices.”
Task
5:
Develop “Guidance” language for inclusion in
MUTCD.
Task 5.1 Develop “Guidance” language for MUTCD.
Task 5.2 Review the “Guidance” language by an
expert panel.
Task 5.3 Finalize the “Guidance” language.
