KLK567 Evaluation of Safety Impact of IdaShield Signs at Idaho Railroad Crossings
ITD Research Project 223; Task Order Number UI-13-02
Principal Investigators:
- Michael Dixon
- Brian Dyre
ITD Project Manager:
- Sajonara Tipuric
FHWA Project Advisor:
- Lance Johnson
Student Researchers:
- —
Research Problem Statement
In an effort to increase safety at public railroad-road crossings (RRC), ITD and other concerned parties decided to implement a modification of the Ohio Buckeye Shield, called the IdaShield (IS). FHWA approved the installation of IS as an experimental project, with the stipulation that an evaluation of the roadside device would be completed at the end of the experimental period. Previous reports to the FHWA were not accepted due to deficiencies.
Project Objectives:
The objective of this project is to evaluate the safety benefits associated with use of IdaShield sign at Idaho railroad crossings to provide information that can be used to determine if the Idashield signs should continue to be required at railroad crossings.
Project Tasks:
Task 1: Create a driver simulation to measure driver behavior in response the varying RRC signage. This driver simulation will possess the following qualities:
- Represents accurate visual of a completely signed RRC,
- Represents the signage in question in addition to all other signage that would be present for informing drivers of proper action related to the RRC,
- Five types of signage will be tested (a. IdaShield with crossbuck and no stop sign; b. IdaShield with crossbuck and stop sign; c. crossbuck and yield only, d. crossbuck and stop sign, and e. IdaShield with crossbuck and yield),
- Two environmental conditions will be tested (a. daytime and b. nighttime),
- Varying traffic conditions will be tested, noting variations in driver behavior for different combinations of driver's location on its approach to the RRC and the train's position on its approach to the RRC.
Task 2: Test the driver simulation on a limited group of students at the University of Idaho, assess the simulator results, and make necessary adjustments to the driver simulation.
Task 3: Administer the finalized driver simulation that will enable conclusions that can be generalized to the driving population. The first group of drivers that will participate in the simulation will be students. The student simulation experiment results will be analyzed to determine if additional testing is needed. This analysis will also determine number of participants needed and the participant characteristics necessary to arrive at conclusions that can be generalized to the Idaho driving population. To encourage participation in addition to the student participants, the research team will offer each participant up to $20 dollars for their participation for up to 25 participants, in addition to the student participants.
If a participant did not behave as expected for a specific sign combination, then they will be briefly interviewed to ascertain why they behaved as they did and how they interpreted the signs meaning.
Task 4: Complete a final analysis of the driver simulation experiment data.
Task 5: Perform literature review, obtain and review crash data used in previous IdaShield reports and acquire necessary data to normalize the crash data into crash rates. Normalizing data will be in the form of the number of RRCs present each year and an estimate of vehicle and train volumes each year. (rearend crashes included)
Task 6: Complete the analysis of normalized crash data.
Task 7: Create a robust survey to assess driver population acceptance of the IdaShield sign, relative to other RRC signage options. This is a joint activity with the Social Science Research Unit (SSRU) at the University of Idaho. The SSRU will create a program to survey based on guidance and content received from other researchers. The purpose of the survey is to validate the driver simulation results by sampling a larger and more geographically diverse population than what is feasible with the drivers simulation. The survey will be created by professionals focusing in public survey design, support, and administration. The survey will possess the following content qualities:
- Represents accurate visual of a completely signed RRC,
- Represents the signage in question in addition to all other signage that would be present for informing drivers of proper action related to the RRC,
- Five types of signage will be tested (a. IdaShield with crossbuck and no stop sign; b. IdaShield with crossbuck and stop sign; c. crossbuck and yield only, d. crossbuck and stop sign, and e. IdaShield and yield),
- Two environmental conditions will be tested (a. daytime and b. nighttime).
The survey will have a 15 minute time limit, which accommodates inclusion of all 4 qualities listed above. Fifteen minutes is feasible in this survey methodology, because participants will be in the comfort of their own homes. Home participation offers greater convenience facilitating the completion of a longer more thoughtful survey.
Task 8: Administer the user acceptance survey (SSRU). The sample participants will include 400 residents throughout Idaho and will be administered via a locally hosted U of I website. Because of widespread access to the internet and documentation provided by call-list providers, this survey methodology will provide a controlled sample of each Idaho county and different age groups. SSRU will compile the data, error check it, document data collection activities, and submit the dataset to Dr. Dixon.
Task 9: Analyze user acceptance survey data. Dr. Dixon and his research team will analyze the data.
Task 10: Write report presenting findings and conclusions.
Task 11: Submit report to ITD technical advisory committee and the same FHWA representative consulted in Task 1.
Task 12: Present report summary to the Technical Advisory committee.
Task 13: Modify report to address comments.
Project Communication Schedule
December: Coordinate data acquisition with ITD staff
March: Meet with ITD Project Manager (PM) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) by telephone or video conference to review user acceptance survey
March: Provide demonstration of driver simulations to ITD PM and/or TAC
June: Meet with PM and TAC to discuss research findings/conclusions and review final report outline
August: Review draft final report
September: Present final report summary to the TAC
October: Submit revised final report.
Needs and Requirements:
- GIS file giving the location of all unsignalized RRC sites.
- Locations of RRCs observed in driver behavior studies conducted in previous IdaShield studies.
- Crash data in the vicinity of all unsignalized RRC sites.
- Traffic volumes on roads traversing all RRC sites.
- Train traffic volumes on railroads traversing all unsignalized RRC sites.
Required Outputs/Deliverables:
Synthesis of past research on effectiveness of signs at improving railroad crossing safety with emphasis on signs similar to the IdaShield.
Final simulation(s) developed for the project approved for use in the safety evaluation by ITD and FHWA.
A written summary of the results of the driver simulation experiment data.
Analysis of Idaho crash data.
Final survey instrument for survey of driver acceptance of IdaShield signs approved by ITD and FHWA.
A written summary of the driver acceptance survey results.
A draft final report by July and a Final report by October.
Implementation:
The technical advisory committee for the project will be responsible for developing action recommendations and coordinating implementation efforts.
Expected Outcomes/Savings to ITD:
When FHWA originally approved an experimental project to install the IdaShield signs at railroad highway crossings, the department was asked to evaluate whether the signs helped reduce vehicle train collisions and influenced driver behavior. This research is expected to provide the information needed to assess the safety benefits of the IdaShield object markers and satisfy FHWA evaluation requirements (FHWA staff from both the Idaho Division Office and the MUTCD Team will be involved throughout the project). In addition, this research is intended to provide information that can assist the department in determining whether the signs should continue to be required at Idaho railroad crossings.