Finding a Win-Win: Planning and Data-Sharing Partnerships between Governments and Public Land Management Agencies

Transportation data sharing partnerships are becoming increasingly important as transportation systems continue to evolve and become more complex. As the demand for transportation services grows, the need for accurate and timely data becomes paramount for staff and the public to make informed decisions. This report is a culmination of research and analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Volpe Center on the topic of transportation data sharing partnerships between transportation and public land agencies. Funded by the Federal Lands Highway Division (FLH) of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the purpose of this research project is to document and evaluate the integration of project planning and data sharing into transportation planning practices and processes within public land settings. The report highlights the importance of collaboration between transportation system owners and the need to establish clear roles, responsibilities, and feedback mechanisms to ensure effective implementation of these partnerships

Comparison of International Fire Safety Standards with U.S. Requirements

The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center compared and contrasted U.S. fire safety regulations and standards on rolling stock with the European Union, Japan, and China. The major areas of study were fire safety analysis, materials performance standards, toxicity performance standards, fire detection and suppression, as well as particular elements of international fire safety standards and regulations that might be valuable and worthy of analysis by the U.S. The varying international regulatory approaches give insight as to ways in which the U.S. might augment its own regulations and standards as well as demonstrate the ways in which international rolling stock might be acquired and found suitable on U.S. railways

Enhanced Planning Review of the Salt Lake and Ogden Metropolitan Area

ISTEA significantly changed the law governing metropolitan transportation planning. In response to the changes introduced by ISTEA, FHWA and FTA issued revised planning regulations on October 28, 1993, setting new requirements for the transportation planning processes. The requirements are presented in 23 CFR Part 450 and 49 CFR Part 613, Statewide and Metropolitan Planning Final Rule. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) also imposed rigorous new transportation planning requirements in metropolitan areas, particularly those that are designated nonattainment or maintenance areas for air quality. In support of the implementation of the revised regulations, FHW A and FTA jointly established a schedule of EPRs. The EPRs are intended to determine the impact of planning on transportation investment processes. The EPRs also provide a technical assessment of the transportation planning and programming processes, including consideration of the six focal points identified by the FHW A and FTA Administrators for certification. The six focal points are: Financial Constraint and Financial Planning, Major Investment Studies, Congestion Management Systems, the Planning Process, and Links to the Conformity Requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990; the Public Involvement Process; and the IS TEA Fifteen Planning Factors. 1 Of equal importance, EPRs will provide a forum for dialogue and the exchange of information on perspectives and concerns related to IS TEA between FT A and FHW A headquarters and field staff, and state and local officials responsible for metropolitan area transportation planning. Additionally, EPRs will provide information for future long-term federal policy-making, including possible legislative and regulatory changes; identify national issues and trends; and document national case studies of best professional practice. This information will also be used to help identify how future federal technical assistance programs can best assist MPOs and other planning agencies in carrying out the requirements of ISTEA. Finally, EPRs are intended to support progress toward meeting ISTEA requirements

Field evaluation of a wireless handheld computer for railroad roadway workers.

EB101/RR04This report is the third in a series describing the development and evaluation of a software application to facilitate communications for railroad roadway workers using a wireless handheld computer. The current prototype operated on a cell phone integrated with a personal digital assistant (PDA). The roadway worker can perform two types of communication related tasks with the application: request information about train status and territory without assistance from the dispatcher and request track authority.This study documents a field evaluation of the application to identify the safety implications of digital wireless communications on roadway worker safety and performance. It compares performance using traditional voice radio and telephone communications to the use of an application that can display this information in a visual form.The software application was faster and more effective than the voice radio communication when used to convey long messages such as filling out Form Ds. Radio communication was faster than the visually based software application for simple communications that did not tax the operator's memory

Location-Based Service Data for Transit Agency Planning and Operations: Market Scan and Feasibility Analysis

This report provides a primer on location-based service (LBS) data and its uses in public transportation. It defines LBS data, describes the techniques for collecting and processing the data, and the key parties involved. The report highlights opportunities, limitations, and potential risks of using LBS data, based on the literature and interviews with transit agencies, data providers, and data privacy experts. Finally, this report provides recommendations to transit agencies on the prudent, safe, and effective use of LBS data

Preview information in cab displays for high-speed locomotives.

This research examined the usefulness of preview information in the control of high-speed trains. Experiments were run on a human-in-the-loop locomotive simulator. The primary goal was to examine whether the proposed information-aiding displays improved safety and efficiency of train operation over an existing display. Safety was measured by monitoring speed control, signal adherence, and reaction time. Efficiency was measured by monitoring stopping accuracy and schedule deviation. Locomotive engineers and student participants performed similarly with respect to signal adherence and speed control. Preview information was useful in both cases; Longer preview and variable preview displays provided the best results. The preview displays were detrimental to accurate station-stopping, as the displays provided an inadequate level of resolution to stop accurately. Although the locomotive engineers responded favorably to the preview displays, further work is needed to determine how the engineer allocates attention between information in the cab and information outside the cab

Human-Automation Teaming in Track Inspection

This report provides a foundational overview of how the rail industry can approach the design of human-automation teams (HATs), with the goal of improving safety and efficiency in the track inspection process. The authors present a general process for designing HATs, then explore how this design process can be applied to track inspection. The report addresses four track inspection tasks (data collection, data analysis, decision making, and action) and presents broadly applicable considerations for HATs for each task. Railroads and manufacturers may use the design process and general considerations in this report to develop requirements specific to a given inspection technology

Locomotive Crash Energy Management Vehicle-to-Vehicle Tests 1 & 2: Analyses and Test Results

6913G618F500083Crash energy management (CEM) components which can be integrated into the end structure of a locomotive were developed: a push-back coupler and a deformable anti-climber. These components are designed to inhibit override and improve crashworthiness for equipped locomotives in a wide range of collisions. A full-scale dynamic impact test program has been designed to evaluate the CEM system. Two sets of coupling tests validated finite element models. Two CEM locomotive vehicle-to-vehicle collision tests and a train-to-train collision test are planned. This report describes the analyses and test results of both the first and second vehicle-to-vehicle impact tests

Limited Analysis of the Wyoming Department of Transportation Connected Vehicle Pilot Safety Applications

HW15A3This report presents the results of a limited analysis of the safety applications deployed in the Wyoming Department of Transportation Connected Vehicle Pilot site. This deployment included the vehicle-to-vehicle forward collision warning (FCW) application and three vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) applications that provided advisories, roadside warnings, and travel guidance to drivers traveling along Interstate 80. Situational awareness, work zone warning, and spot weather impact warning comprised the V2I applications. This analysis was based on the naturalistic driving experience of 327 equipped vehicles, spanning from January through April 2022. The deployed vehicles experienced 490 distinct FCW events and received 83,408 weather condition alerts, 34,962 speed limit alerts, 7,077 work zone alerts, and 3,069 traffic condition alerts. The analysis of FCW events characterized the host vehicle (HV) speed at alert onset and vehicle response to alerts in terms of driving conflict mitigation, response time, and deceleration level. The analysis of V2I advisory alerts focused on the HV speed at alert onset and did not address vehicle response to these alerts. Finally, this analysis compared the speed of all vehicles passing by 64 roadside radars along I-80, between a baseline period from January through April 2017 and the treatment period from January through April 2022

Status update on GPS integrity failure modes and effects analysis

GPS integrity anomalies have long been of great concern to the civil and military GPS communities for safety-of- life operations. The FAA, USCG, and their international counterparts have focused on how to accomplish integrity monitoring for safety-of-life services through the use of receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM), widearea and local-area augmentation systems such as WAAS and LAAS, maritime differential GPS (DGPS) and nationwide differential GPS (NDGPS). The military is preparing to certify PPS RAIM receivers and is in the process of developing the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS). Integrity failure modes need to be understood in order to develop a proper monitoring capability. The main objectives of the GPS Integrity Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (IFMEA) project are to identify GPS integrity monitoring requirements, examine GPS failure data in order to identify integrity failure modes, examine the causes and effects of the failures, as well as their probability of occurrence, determine the impact of integrity anomalies on users, and recommend preventive actions. The IFMEA project is focused on integrity anomalies that are due to hardware and software failures in the satellite vehicles (SVs) and Operational Control System (OCS). This paper provides a status update on the GPS IFMEA effort which is jointly funded by the Interagency GPS Executive Board (IGEB), the GPS Joint Program Office (JPO), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The IFMEA project began in 2002 under IGEB stewardship funding. Through the IFMEA project, Aberration Characterization Sheets (ACS) have been developed and updated for all GPS satellites through the Block IIR generation and work is now beginning on Block IIR-M, IIF, and the Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP) for the OCS. There is a need by those in the user community who are developing safety of life systems to be able to easily research GPS integrity anomaly data. In support of this effort, the IFMEA team is developing a database of all GPS service anomalies that can be accessed by type of anomaly, satellite number, satellite block affected, magnitude of error, date of occurrence, and duration of event. An effects analysis for WAAS and LAAS is being conducted to determine the impact on these augmentation systems from integrity anomalies. Finally, the IFMEA project is evaluating signal quality monitoring (SQM) algorithms to ensure proper detection of integrity anomalies and identify any design constraints or modifications to the GPS SV and OCS to either prevent failures that degrade integrity or provide protection from any adverse operational impact. This work is referenced in other ION papers [1] and [2]. The benefits of this work are to gain a better understanding of integrity anomalies, their probability of occurrence, and how to monitor for them. This information is essential to the design of differential GPS networks to support safety of life operations and will assist in meeting international commitments to describe GPS performance. The work performed under this study also will provide a technical basis to update the SPS and PPS Performance Standards and help develop recommendations for improvements to future GPS satellites and the operational control system