ITS Technology at Highway-Rail Intersections: 'Putting It To the Test'.211 Proceedings from the ITS Joint Program Office Highway-Rail Intersection 211 Evaluation Workshop on May 6-7, 1999

摘要

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),211u001eIntelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS/JPO) has a General 211u001eWorking Agreement (GWA) with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and 211u001eSpecial Programs Administration's John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems 211u001eCenter (hereafter referred to as 'the Volpe Center'). Recent Departmental 211u001eemphasis in the area of Highway-Rail Intersection (HRI) Safety Research has 211u001eexpanded the GWA to include support from the Volpe Center's Accident Prevention 211u001eDivision on ITS/HRI evaluations, cost/benefit analyses, technology testing, and 211u001edissemination of information on ITS/HRI demonstration sites nationwide. It should 211u001ebe noted that the terms 'rail-highway grade crossings' or 'highway-rail grade 211u001ecrossings' used by those in the railroad industry are interchangeable with the 211u001eterm 'highway rail intersections' or 'HRI' used by those in the ITS industry. 211u001eThroughout the first seven years of the National ITS Program, several tests of 211u001eITS technologies to improve safety at HRIs were undertaken as well as development 211u001eof 'User Service no. 30' of the National ITS Program Plan relating to HRIs. 211u001eConcern for safety at HRIs and the realization that HRIs need to be considered by 211u001eITS because of the potential safety benefits led to the creation of User Service 211u001eno. 30. Under this service, HRIs have become part of the Travel and Traffic 211u001eManagement service of ITS and they were integrated with the National ITS 211u001eArchitecture in 1997. User Service no. 30 establishes the need for including HRI 211u001esafety in the ITS Vision and notes that certain factors need to be considered and 211u001eresearched, first, in order to improve safety at HRIs. User Service no. 30 211u001eenvisions that these systems will also provide improved train and highway traffic 211u001econtrol via exchange of real-time data.