PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF LIGHT RAIL CRASHES IN DENVER, COLORADO: IMPLICATIONS FOR CRASH PREDICTION AND HAZARD INDEX MODELS BASED ON RAILROADS

摘要

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of light rail crashes at at-grade crossings in Denver,Colorado based on Regional Transportation District data for the years 1999 through 2009.Differences in design and operation of at-grade crossings are discussed for light rail versuscommon carrier railroad (railroad). These differences appear to warrant the development ofseparate crash prediction and/or hazard index models because models developed for railroad at7grade crossing operations may not accurately predict the number and severity of crashes at lightrail at-grade crossings. In addition, the models developed for railroads do not predict crashes atcrossings for some traffic control device types such as traffic signals. The lack of information forcrossings controlled by traffic signals in the railroad crash prediction equations is one reason thatlight rail specific equations may need to be developed. This study identifies patterns in light railcrossing crash data that warrant further investigation and support the development of crashprediction models and/or hazard index equations that are specific to light rail at-grade crossingconfigurations and operations.