The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) sponsored a project to demonstrate the effectiveness of an Acoustical Warning Device (AWD) to be used for generating a secondary Emergency Warning Signal (EWS). The focus of this Phase 2 work is to warn trespassers of an approaching train through the development of an EWS that produces a sense of urgency, is noticeable to wearers of headphones, and identifiable as a train. Several EWS sounds were developed and evaluated in surveys to assess the participant’s response of the sense of urgency and detectability. Researchers identified sound characteristics that enhance detectability.

See Also:

• Acoustical Warning Devices as Emergency Warning Systems, Phase 1
• Acoustical Warning Devices as Emergency Warning Systems, Phase 3