Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District will replace several railroad crossings during January and February.

According to recent reports, the move comes amid criticism that it's taken too long to make improvements.

Requires railroads to install signs at highway-rail grade and pathway crossings with telephone numbers the public can use to alert railroad companies to unsafe conditions.

The nonprofit cites FRA statistics, which indicate 2,004 vehicle-train collisions in the U.S. in 2010, up 4.2 percent from the 1,924 incidents in 2009. The collisions resulted in 260 deaths and 810 injuries, with crossing deaths up 5.3 percent and crossing injuries up 9.8 percent.

Proposal would require railroads to post a toll-free telephone number and the DOT’s National Crossing Inventory identification number at every highway-rail crossing and explicitly authorized pathway grade crossing.

Prevention strategies include expanded educational outreach through OLI and the development of community action plans in concert with greater law enforcement action. Recommendations for railroad station safety include providing audible and visual warnings of approaching trains, station and platform structural improvements and, where feasible, fences to prohibit access to railroad tracks.

The television safety campaign, targeting 18 to 34 year olds and Hispanic viewers, is aimed at preventing vehicle-train tragedies in the Chicago area, where crossing incidents increased in 2010.

The model legislation is intended to help states address obstructions limiting a driver's view of an oncoming train.

These statistics are relevant as U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood convenes a September 30-October 1 Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, D.C.