The Illinois Department of Transportation uses an Expected Accident Frequency (EAF) formula as one of the parameters in prioritizing the rail highway grades crossings that need warning devices upgraded. This study evaluated the effectiveness of he formula and assessed the current 0.02 threshold. Field data were collected from three railroad corridors and 93 crossings in Illinois. Data showed that 21% of the current inventory data have outdated entries for warning devices. The Inventory File for 9,063 public grade crossings along with the 1998-1997 Accident File (2,776 crashes) were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the EAF formula. The results indicated that IDOT formula fell short of identifying the most hazardous crossings that need warning devices upgraded. About 77% of crossings that had an EAF of 0.02 or higher did not experience any crashes. Four potential models (Connecticut, Michigan, California, and USDPT models) were evaluated using Illinois data and none of them consistently outperformed IDOT EAF formula. A new Hazard Index (IHI) formula was developed. The variables used IHI are ADT, number of trains per day, maximum timetable speed, number of tracks, number of highway lanes, 5-year crash history, and control devices factor. IHI formula identified locations with higher crash rate than IDOT formula did. The revised IHI should be used in combination with other criteria to identify those crossings in need of safety improvement.
Evaluation of Expected Accident Frequency Formulas for Rail-Highway Crossings
2000
178 pages
Report
No indication
English
Transportation Safety , Railroad Transportation , Highway Engineering , Transportation , Railroad grade crossing , Accident frequency , Hazard indexes , Safety improvement , Warning devices , Illinois , Effectiveness , Field data , Highway rail intersection , Rail-highway grade crossings , Expected accident frequency(EAF)
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