Summary

Crossing collisions are difficult to analyze owing to their relative rarity. We have developed and installed a system that will allow us to quantify crossing susceptibility to collisions by accumulating data concerning crossing violations, the precursors of collisions which are much more frequent than collisions themselves. This project will

1. survey the rail crossing inventory,
2. merge two databases of SJRC crossings and their physical properties,
3. enable a team of rail and highway authorities to study a proposed new in-pavement crossing signal based upon LED technology that is installed at a test site on the SJRC, and
4. build a database of crossing violations as observed in a new state-of-the-art digital video data gathering system mounted in an AMTRAK locomotive.