USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

A Methodology for Determination of Grade Crossing Resource - Allocation Guidelines

Document Series
Technical Reports
Author
John B. Hopkins, Morrin E. Hazel
Report Number
FRA-OR&D-76-04
Office
RRD
Subject Grade Crossing Modeling and Simulation, Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Warning Systems, Highway-Rail Grade Crossings
Keywords
Rail Safety, Motorist Warning Systems, Transportation Safety Resource Allocation

This report describes a computer-aided analytical approach to estimation of the potential benefits, costs, and implementation implications associated with allocation of grade crossing safety resources. Three types of information are required as input: (1) the grade crossing population, categorized by hazard, location (urban/ rural), and existing warning systems; (2) warning system alternatives, characterized by cost and effectiveness; and (3) criteria for acceptable or preferred resource-allocation strategies (required benefit cost ratio, total resources available, number of fatalities to be prevented, etc). A computer program has been prepared that determines all solutions meeting stated criteria and characterizes them in detail (specifying warning systems for each crossing category). Operation is highly interactive, and requires only seconds of computer time. Examples are presented based upon national statistics, and cases are chosen to indicate sensitivity to uncertainties in input data. An extensive discussion of the currently-estimated crossing population is included, with a brief review of accident prediction equations.


DOT is committed to ensuring that information is available in appropriate alternative formats to meet the requirements of persons who have a disability. If you require an alternative version of files provided on this page, please contact FRADevOps@dot.gov.
Last updated: Friday, August 1, 1975