Investigating the effectiveness of safety countermeasures at highway-rail at-grade crossings using a competing risk model |
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| Institution: | 1. Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute/North Dakota State University, NDSU Dept. 2880, P. O. Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, United States;2. Department of Transportation, Logistics, and Finance, Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute/North Dakota State University, NDSU Dept. 2880, P. O. Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, United States;3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering/University of Massachusetts Amherst, 142A Marston Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, United States;1. Road Safety Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Selangor, Malaysia;2. Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;1. Monash University Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia;2. University of the Sunshine Coast Accident Research, Maroochydore, QLD, Australia;3. University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, UK;1. Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety-Queensland, Australia;2. Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation, Australia;3. Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Optometry and Vision Science, Australia;1. Geography &Anthropology Department, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70802, United States;2. Louisiana Transportation Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, 70808, United States;1. Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia;2. Monash University Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia;3. Loughborough Design School, Loughborough University, Loughborough, United Kingdom;4. Transportation Research Group, Civil, Maritime, Environmental Engineering & Science Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | Introduction: Highway-rail at-grade crossings (HRGCs) are critical locations where a railway and a roadway intersect with one another. Crashes at those locations often result in fatalities and economic and social damages due to the impacts on both road and rail users. The main purpose of countermeasures at HRGCs is to permit safe and efficient rail and highway operations. Method: Countermeasures at highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs) considered in this study include all traffic control devices and other warning and barrier devices at or on approaches to crossings. In general, active devices are commonly accepted as more effective countermeasures than passive devices. However, many of the previous effectiveness studies are either at the project level or were conducted without considering the before-improvement condition. This study focuses on the network-level marginal effectiveness of countermeasures on crash rate and severity levels during the 29-year study period from 1990 to 2018 by fully considering before-improvement control levels. A competing risk model (CRM) is able to accommodate the competing nature of crash severities as multiple outcomes from the same event of interest, which is crash occurrence in this study. Subsequently, CRM is used in this study as an integrated one-step estimation approach that investigates both crash frequency and severity likelihood over time. Results: The study findings indicate that adding audible devices to crossings already equipped with gates will result in a considerable annual decline in crash occurrence likelihood (0.25%). The same device installed at crossings already controlled by gates and flashing lights results in less reduction in crash occurrence likelihood of 0.14%. Moreover, adding a stop sign to the active crossing controls of gates, standard flashing lights, and audible devices will lead to a decrease in the probability of crash occurrence and severe crashes (injury and fatal). However, adding stop signs to crossings equipped only with crossbucks will increase the crash occurrence. |
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| Keywords: | Accident prediction Railroad grade crossing Competing risk models Counter-measure effectiveness |
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