Despite government efforts, railroad trespassing persists, largely due to widespread unawareness of its risks. To investigate public knowledge and motivations regarding this issue, we surveyed 591 people (August 2022−May 2023). Employing descriptive statistics, for example, frequency distribution, and non-parametric tests, we preliminarily analyzed the findings in this paper. Alarmingly, 90% of respondents never received rail-related safety training, 40% believed private railroad property was public, and 48% were unaware of its illegality. Notably, 52% admitted to trespassing. Regarding the reasons for trespassing, 68% of the respondents who trespassed before reported shortening a trip, an official crossing is too far away, not convenient, or a busy highway were the main reasons. For the destinations after trespassing, 32% chose hiking, walks, and walking dogs, 26% chose going to the town/city/center, restaurant, or shopping, and another 22% reported way to (from) school/work. These findings highlight significant gaps in railroad safety education in the US.
Investigation of Public Knowledge and Perceptions toward Railroad Trespassing in the United States
International Conference on Transportation and Development 2024 ; 2024 ; Atlanta, Georgia
2024-06-13
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Artificial Intelligence-Aided Automated Detection of Railroad Trespassing
Transportation Research Record | 2019
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