Published & Presented

• 2006 International Level Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Symposium. Volpe Center staff presented papers at the 9th International Level Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Symposium in Montreal, Canada, September 10-14, 2006. The theme of the conference, "Partners in Safety," comprised the accomplishments and challenges of railway safety research, human performance, and the future vision of crossing safety and trespass prevention programs. Two hundred and fifty international delegates from 35 countries discussed advances in level grade crossing technology and operations in order to share international dialogue on these issues. (More about the event may be found at http://www.levelcrossing2006.com)
  • "North Carolina DOT Traffic Separation Studies — Assessment," Mr. Patrick Bien- Aime of the Rail and Transit Systems Division.
  • "Functional Concept Requirements and Testing of Intruder and Obstacle Detention Systems (IODS)," Ms. Anya Carroll of the Rail and Transit Division.
  • "State-of-the-Art Technologies for Obstacle/Intrusion Detection for Railroad Operations," Mr. Marco daSilva of the Advanced Safety Technology Division.
  • "The Effect of Locomotive Horn Characteristics on Motorist Detection," Ms. Gina Melnik of the Human Factors Division, and coauthored by Dr. Stephen Popkin of the same division and Dr. F. A. Russo of the University of Toronto.
  • "Impact of Active Warning Reliability on Motorist Compliance at Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings," Dr. Jordan Multer of the Human Factors Division, and coauthored by Dr. Monica Gil of Sikorsky Aircraft.
  • "New Technologies in Intelligent Transportation Systems for Highway-Rail Intersections," Mr. Steven Peck of the Rail and Transit Systems Division, and coauthored by Mr. Paul Bousquet of the same division.
  • "Result of Risk Methodology Data Acquisition Methods and Assessment for a Proposed High-Speed Rail Corridor in California," Mr. Adrian Hellman of the Rail and Transit Systems Division, and coauthored by Ms. Anya Carroll of the same division and Mr. Gary Baker, then of the Federal Railroad Administration, now of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division.
  • "Public Education and Enforcement Research Study (PEERS)," Ms. Suzanne Sposato of the Rail and Transit Systems Division.
  • "North Carolina 'Sealed Corridor' Phase I: US DOT Assessment," Ms. Anya Carroll of the Rail and Transit Division, and coauthored by Mr. Jim Smailes of the Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Research and Development.
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  VANCOUVER RAIL YARD: SAFETY DATA ON HIGHWAY-RAIL USER BEHAVIOR. For FRA, Volpe Center staff have been working with Canadian authorities to evaluate safety data. (iStockphoto.com)

  Canadian Participation in FRA Railway Safety-Related Research. The results of recent Volpe Center research have been posted on the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) website in the Research Results section, which describes significant FRA R&D projects. Two of these describe FRA Human Factors Research and Development Program and Alternative Safety Measures Program projects designed to evaluate whether safety programs improve safety outcomes and the underlying safety culture, and to conduct implementation and impact evaluations of promising safety programs in the railroad industry. The Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) have provided data for this evaluation. Two studies, describing the work of Ms. Mary Lee and Dr. Joyce Ranney of the Human Factors Division, are listed below and can be accessed by the provided links:
  • Canadian Pacific Railway Investigation of Safety-Related Occurrences Protocol Considered Helpful by Both Labor and Management, Research Results Report No: RR 06-13. http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/Research/rr0613.pdf
  • Canadian Pacific Railway Mechanical Services' 5-Alive Safety Program Shows Promise in Reducing Injuries, Research Results Report No: RR 06-14. http://www.fra.dot.gov/ downloads/Research/rr0614.pdf
• Human Factors Evaluation of Electronic Flight Bags. For the Federal Aviation Administration, Dr. Divya Chandra and Dr. Michelle Yeh, both of the Human Factors Division, produced A Toolkit for Evaluating Electronic Flight Bags. The goal of these tools is to help streamline and standardize EFB human factors assessments by the FAA (DOT-VNTSC-FAA-06-21; DOT/FAA/AR-06/44). http://www.volpe.dot.gov/hf/aviation/efb/docs/toolkit0906.pdf
• Improving Safety Culture in the Railroad Industry. Dr. Joyce Ranney of the Human Factors Division participated in the American Evaluation Association (AEA) Conference Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Research and Evaluation Studies and the New Risk Management Program in Portland, Oregon. The panel reported on three FRA-sponsored research and evaluation studies that encourage the use of precursor safety data to prevent future injuries and accidents. Dr. Ranney presented "The Federal Railroad Administration's Research and Development Agenda to Improve Safety and Safety Culture in the Railroad Industry," written by Mr. Michael Cohen of the FRA. Dr. Ranney also presented preliminary findings in "Improving Safety Culture in the Railroad Industry: Overview of Results to Date from Three Related Evaluations."
• Air Transport and Human-Automation Interaction. Dr. Thomas Sheridan of the Human Factors Division presented "Next Generation Air Transportation Systems: Human-Automation Interaction and Organizational Risks," at the Human Automation Research meeting on resilience engineering held at the Ecole des Mines at Juan les Pins, France. Resilience engineering is an approach to safety management and human error analysis that deals mainly with organizational structures and practices, seeking new ways to detect that a complex technological system is drifting toward the margins of safety, and to help it be prepared to adapt to surprises and undesigned-for situations while still maintaining stability in performing its expected functions. The research was sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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  CONFIDENTIAL CLOSE CALLS REPORTING SYSTEM. For FRA, the Volpe Center is engaged in implementing a voluntary, confidential demonstration program for railroad carriers and their employees to report close calls without receiving disciplinary action.

  Confidential Reporting Systems. Dr. Jordan Multer of the Human Factors Division gave two presentations at the 4th International Confidential Reporting Systems User Forum in London, England. At the plenary session, he presented "Railroad Human Factors Program Overview." In a session on using reporting systems to drive change, he presented "Creating a Learning Culture Through Confidential Reporting in the U.S. Railroad Industry." The Volpe Center's participation in this forum supported the Federal Railroad Administration's effort to provide the railroad industry with better tools to manage safety.
• High-Speed Rail Risk Analysis Methodology. For the Federal Railroad Administration, Mr. John Choros of the Structures and Dynamics Division, Mr. Adrian Hellman and Ms. Anya Carroll, both of the Rail and Transit Systems Division, Mr. Gary Baker of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division, Ms. Marsha Haines of EG&G, Inc. (a Volpe Center contractor), and Mr. Jon Anderson, formerly of EG&G, coauthored San Joaquin, California, High-Speed Rail Grade Crossing Data Acquisition Characteristics, Methodology, and Risk Assessment (DOT-VNTSC-FRA-06-02; DOT/FRA/ORD-06/02). This is in support of a long-standing effort to estimate the probability of a collision at highway-rail grade crossings and is based on a substantial national database maintained by FRA. The report can be downloaded at http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/research/ord0602.pdf
• International Forum on Railroad Safety. Mr. David Tyrell of the Structures and Dynamics Division presented "A Train-to-Train Impact Test of Crash EnergyManagement Passenger Rail Equipment," which described the results of a test conducted inMarch 2006 in Pueblo, Colorado, at the 6th International Symposium on the Passive Safety of Rail Vehicles in Berlin, Germany. The paper was coauthored by Mr. EloyMartinez of the Federal Railroad Administration (formerly of the Volpe Center). The Colorado test was the eighth in a series of full-scale train tests conducted as part of the Federal Railroad Administration's rail passenger equipment safety research program.
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  Improving Rail Car End Frame Crashworthiness. Mr. Eloy Martinez of the Federal Railroad Administration (formerly of the Volpe Center) along with Mr. Ronald Mayville of Mayville and Associates and Mr. Richard Stringfellow of TIAX published the final report Development of Conventional Cab Car End Structure Designs for Full Scale Testing (DOT-VNTSC-FRA-07-01, DOT/FRA/ORD-06/20), testing current state-of-the-art cab car design. http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/ Research/ord0620.pdf
• Safety Data on Highway-Rail User Behavior. Ms. Suzanne Sposato, Mr. Patrick Bien-Aime, and Ms. Minakshi Chaudhary, all of the Rail and Transit Systems Division, wrote the final report, Safety of Highway-Rail Grade Crossings: Public Education and Enforcement Research Study. (DOT-VNTSC-FRA-06-03, DOT/FRA/ORD-06/27). This project was a collaborative effort between the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Illinois Commerce Commission, and local communities. The report can be downloaded at http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/Research/ord0627.pdf
• Submission of Alternative Fuels Report to Congress. On December 7, Ms. Mary E. Peters, Secretary of Transportation, signed and submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs a report entitled Alternative Fuels Study: A Report to Congress on Policy Options for Increasing the Use of Alternative Fuels in Transit Vehicles. This report details environmental benefits, existing barriers, current incentives, and policy recommendations related to increasing alternative fuels use in public transportation nationwide. The final report was based on a draft written by Mr. Greg Ayres with support from Mr. Kevin Green and Mr. Neil Meltzer, all of the Advanced Safety Technology Division, with additional analysis done by Dr. Don Pickrell of the Economic and Industry Analysis Division. http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/Alternative_Fuels_Study_
  Report_to_Congress.pdf
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  NEAR-CRASH/CRASH EVENT DATA RECORDERS. The Volpe Center final report reviews low-cost options for black boxes" on automobiles. (Photo by Marco daSilva)

  Feasibility of an Automobile "Black Box." Mr. Marco daSilva and Dr. Wassim Najm of the Advanced Safety Technology Division coauthored Development of Collision Avoidance Data for Light Vehicles: Near-Crash/Crash Event Data Recorders (DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA- 06-03). The report assessed the current status of motor vehicle near-crash and crash Event Data Recorder technology for the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT's) Intelligent Vehicle Initiative/Intelligent Transportation System program. http://www.volpe.dot.gov/library/published/nc-edr_final_020107.pdf
• Volpe Center Contributes to Conference on Weather. The American Meteorological Society's 87th annual meeting was held in San Antonio, Texas, from January 13-18, 2007. The annual meeting hosts several other meteorological conferences, and two Volpe Center technical experts presented their papers at these meetings:
  • "Evaluation of Wind Algorithms for Reporting Wind Direction for Use in Air Traffic Control Towers," Dr. Thomas A. Seliga of the Advanced Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance Technologies Division and Mr. David A. Hazen of L-3 Communications Titan Group, was presented at a joint poster session (between the 16th Conference on Applied Climatology and the 14th Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation). http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/116901.pdf
  • "Analysis of Weather Events on U.S. Railroads," Mr. Michael A. Rossetti of the Advanced Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance Technologies Division, was presented as part of the 23rd Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems (IIPS). http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/118791.pdf
• Volpe Center Explores Aircraft Separation Standards. The 45th American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit met on January 8-11, 2007, in Reno, Nevada. The conference provides scientists and engineers from industry, government, and academia with a forum for discussing new milestones for flight.
  • Ms. Melanie Soares of the Advanced Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance Technologies Division and Dr. James Hallock, Senior Technical Expert for Air and Space Transportation Safety with the Office of Demonstration and Deployment Programs, presented "Is the B757- 300 Really a 'Heavy' Aircraft?'" (AIAA-2007-288) in the Wake Vortices and Turbulence session. The study examined the behavior of vortices in the B757-200 and the B757-300 (the latter having an increased maximum certificated takeoff weight) during approach/landing operations and showed little difference between the vortices of the two B757 series. Dr. Hallock also cochaired the session.
  • Mr. Larry Berk of the Safety Information Systems Division presented the paper, "Predicting Near-Ground Vortex Lifetimes Using Weibull Density Functions," (AIAA-2007-1057) coauthored by Dr. James Hallock of the Safety Information Systems Division. The paper's technique could prove useful for defining aircraft separation standards.