The Volpe Center applies its intellectual capital, multidisciplinary approach, knowledge,
and experience in the regulatory arena to help agencies meet DOT strategic objectives,
notably in the area of safety regulations and standards.
Surface Transportation Safety
Standards and Regulations: A Collaborative Approach
Ensuring the safety of the transportation system is the principal goal of
the U.S. Department of Transportation. Accordingly, DOT has a major
role in developing, promulgating, and enforcing regulations covering
various aspects of transportation operations. The Volpe Center's ability to
analyze complex situations and systems, combined with its long history of
working in surface transportation, provides DOT agencies with a unique
perspective on their safety regulatory missions. The Center has worked
with several agencies on a wide variety of regulatory issues, ranging from
development and enhancement of standards and regulations to compliance
and enforcement.
DOT recognizes that the role of government is to balance public interest,
safety, and the promulgation of enlightened regulations that encourage
rather than discourage progress and economic development. The Department
also understands that regulations work best when they are developed,
modified, and enforced in an atmosphere in which government,
industry, and the public are engaged in the process.
Volpe Center staff have demonstrated expertise in participating in and
promoting a cooperative rather than an adversarial style of regulation
development and compliance. The Center has supported consensus
building for several DOT agencies, with particular emphasis on safety
issues. The Center brings unbiased technical knowledge to working
groups chartered to develop and revise regulations and to determine
standards for new technologies. Participants value this impartiality as they
address the complex issues involved in shaping reasonable regulations and
standards. The Center also brings expertise in organizational development
to facilitate mutual understanding of diverse perspectives.
Developing Regulations and Performance Standards
FRA Standards and Regulations
The railroad industry's overall safety record has improved during recent
decades. However, train accidents do still occur, and there is room for
improvement. In 2005, DOT and FRA launched a National Rail Safety
Action Plan. The Action Plan includes initiatives intended to reduce train
accidents caused by human factors, improve track safety, enhance hazardous
materials safety and emergency preparedness, better focus FRA
resources, and improve highway-rail grade crossing safety. The Volpe
Center has supported FRA in developing design and performance standards
and regulations in each of these areas; selected examples follow.
Passenger Train Emergency Preparedness Standards
FRA regulations are designed to ensure that passenger railroads plan for
possible emergencies in order to minimize the potential consequences.
Since 1993, Volpe Center experts have assisted the FRA Offices of
Research and Development and Safety to ensure that passenger train rules
(contained in 49 CFR, Parts 223, 238, and 239) reflect the current state of
the art, are technically and economically feasible, and are enforceable.
On August 24, 2006, FRA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM) for Part 238 that is intended to enhance passenger train
emergency system features, such as emergency exits, rescue access points,
and emergency communications. Volpe Center experts played a key role
by providing extensive technical assistance and demonstrations to FRA
for the original 1998 and 1999 regulations and to the FRA Railroad Safety
Advisory Committee (RSAC) Emergency Preparedness Task Force, which
developed the basis for the NPRM. This consensus-based task force
consists of a variety of stakeholders, including Amtrak and commuter
railroad management, labor organizations, rail car manufacturers, other
vendors, and other interested parties, such as the National Transportation
Safety Board.
U.S. Regulations
The U.S. Constitution prescribes the responsibilities of the government's three branches- executive, legislative, and
judicial- all of which have roles that underpin the nation's transportation system. The U.S. Congress authorizes the
executive branch to implement statutes and to develop and enforce regulations. Laws and statutes establish procedures
to ensure that regulations are developed in a transparent, interactive manner with the public.
Rulemaking refers to the process that executive agencies use to create, or promulgate, regulations. By bringing detailed
technical expertise to bear on policy, the rulemaking process has resulted in enlightened regulations that promote the
greater good. This Focus article presents some examples of the Volpe Center's role in this process. There are two kinds of
rulemaking- formal and informal. Formal rulemaking calls for a trial-like, on-the-record proceeding. Most federal
agencies, however, develop rules through informal rulemaking. The main requirements for informal rulemaking are:
- Publication of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register
- Opportunity for public participation by submission of written comments
- Consideration by the agency of public comments and other relevant material
- Publication of a Final Rule not less than 30 days before its effective date, with a statement explaining its purpose
Source: http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/176/1/67
Volpe Center experts also assisted the RSAC Task Force
in revising the American Public Transportation
Association/Passenger Rail Equipment Safety Standards
(APTA/PRESS) for Emergency Lighting, Emergency
Signs, and Low-Location Exit Path Marking. In 2007,
FRA plans to publish an NPRM incorporating the three
APTA standards by reference to further enhance the
regulations contained in Part 238.
The foundation for the 1998 passenger train emergency
preparedness regulations contained in Part 239 is a
report, "Recommended Emergency Preparedness
Guidelines for Passenger Trains," written by a Volpe
Center expert and published in 1993 by FRA's Office of
Research and Development.
Locomotive Horns Final Rule
Passenger Train Emergency Evacuation
Training: Emergency responders practice
removing injured passengers on stretchers
through rail car windows.
For the last decade, the Volpe Center has supported FRA in evaluating
locomotive horn systems. This work was prompted by concerns about the
audibility of locomotive horns at highway-rail grade crossings in modern
sound-insulated highway vehicles. The Center provided FRA with the
empirical information necessary to promulgate a final rule by applying its
acoustic, engineering, human factors, and field-operational-test research
into the safety implications of positioning horns on locomotives, alternate
solutions, and the comparative noise levels associated with different
horn positions.
Train Conspicuity
Quarter-symmetric mesh for typical tank car head.
Half-symmetric mesh for typical tank car head.
Volpe Center engineers have used various
engineering analyses to estimate the forces,
deformations, and puncture resistance of
railroad tank cars. One approach is to apply
elastic-plastic finite element analysis. The
figures above show the finite element
meshes used to represent the ellipsoidal
tank car head. The quarter-symmetric
mesh is used for cases where the load
is applied at the center of the head. The
half-symmetric mesh is used for cases
with off-center loading. The results from
these approaches are compared with experimental
data from impact tests and are
shown to provide reasonable estimates of
impact forces.
A final rule on locomotive auxiliary alerting lights was
issued in 1995. As one strategy for reducing accidents
at highway-rail grade crossings, the Volpe Center has
supported FRA by investigating measures to make
trains more visible to motor vehicle drivers at such
crossings. Using engineering and human factors
research, the Center has evaluated several external
visual alerting devices. The results of field operational
and laboratory tests indicate that the use of selected
alerting light systems on locomotives rather than standard
headlights alone is an effective means of enhancing
locomotive visibility. Based on the Center's
research, FRA's Final Rule identifies several types of
auxiliary external alerting light arrangements as
acceptable locomotive conspicuity measures.
Improving Tank Car Integrity
As trains get longer and heavier, FRA is investigating
the need for enhancing tank car structural integrity.
This research involves analyzing train forces in derailments
to determine if the current design is adequate
or if changes are needed. The first phase is development
of a physics-based model to analyze the kinematics
of railcars in a derailment; the second phase, development
of a dynamic structural analysis model; and the
third phase, assessment of the damage created by
punctures, which entails application of fracturemechanics
testing and analysis methods. The Volpe
Center is currently involved in the modeling work. This
research will help to provide critical information to guide FRA rulemaking
that will address the design of pressurized tank cars. A recent Volpe Center
report, "Engineering Analyses for Railroad Tank Car Head Puncture
Resistance," is available at http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sdd/docs/puncture-1106.pdf.
Passenger Rail Equipment Crashworthiness
The Center conducts research into passenger rail equipment crashworthiness
by applying analytical tools and testing techniques to evaluate the
effectiveness of proposed strategies. The information from this research
has been used to develop crashworthiness requirements for Amtrak's highspeed
trainset as well as FRA's Passenger Equipment Safety Standards, and
to draft revisions and additions to current FRA locomotive crashworthiness
regulations and the Association of American Railroads
standards. The goal of the research is to develop and
evaluate practical concepts for increasing survivability in
passenger train accidents. Major activities include conducting
field investigations of passenger train accidents to
determine the causes of injury and fatality, developing
alternative strategies for increased occupant protection,
and conducting full-scale impact testing to compare the
effectiveness of conventional and improved crashworthiness
strategies.
In support of FRA's research into strategies for improving
the crashworthiness of commuter and intercity rail passenger
trains, the Volpe Center has designed and conducted
a series of full-scale commuter train crash tests at the
Transportation Technical Center in Pueblo, Colorado, and
has analyzed the results of these tests. By crashing trains
under test conditions, researchers are able to analyze the
structural integrity of cab cars and to examine the effects
of crashes on passengers and crew members. The Center
has also developed computer simulations and models of
these test scenarios that are integral to an understanding
of the problem. Initial tests of conventional equipment
resulted in serious damage. As a result, the test equipment
was modified to include a crash energy management
(CEM) crush zone. The modified equipment demonstrated
that, by distributing the crush to unoccupied spaces
within the train, the survivable impact speed could be
more than doubled. As a result of this testing, FRA has
imposed more stringent specifications for rail cars being
purchased for commuter rail systems. Such specifications
must now include CEM as a design strategy. Volpe Center
staff are also assisting commuter rail systems and manufacturers
in meeting these new specifications.
Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office
The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of
1991 (ISTEA) established a federal program to research,
develop, and operationally test Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
and to promote their implementation. The ITS Joint Program Office
(JPO) coordinates DOT's multimodal ITS initiatives. The program focuses
on intelligent vehicles, intelligent infrastructure, and the creation of an
intelligent transportation system.
One area in which the Volpe Center supports
the JPO is its comprehensive work on collisionavoidance
systems.
Determining Functional Requirements of Crash Avoidance Systems
One crash-avoidance system that the Volpe
Center is evaluating warns drivers of
impending road-departure crashes.
The Volpe Center's crash-avoidance work provides
a foundation upon which industry can design and
deploy safe and effective products. Through
rigorous analysis of crash scenarios, Volpe Center
researchers have gained a thorough understanding
of collision types and causes. From this analysis,
Volpe Center staff determine the functional
requirements for a potential crash-avoidance
system and assess existing technologies. Industry
then designs and builds new systems based on
these requirements.
Assessing Industry Prototypes
In its role as an independent evaluator, the Volpe Center assesses industry
prototypes for safety benefits, driver acceptance, system capability, and
deployment potential. The Center is currently evaluating three crashavoidance
systems. Two of these systems target a specific type of crash- rear end or road departure- and use sensors to detect potential danger,
a computer to evaluate the possibility of a collision, and a driver interface
to relay information to the driver who can then act on it before the
collision is inevitable. The third system is designed to alert a driver when
it detects signs of drowsiness; it uses low-level infrared signals to monitor
eye closure.
Regulatory Impact Analyses
The Volpe Center's economic and industry analysis specialists support
DOT's agencies in preparing Regulatory Impact Assessments of proposed
rulemaking. These assessments are key tools for delivering better regulations
and successful policy because they present an analysis of the likely
impacts of a policy change and the range of options for implementing it.
For example, Center staff recently conducted a regulatory assessment of a
proposed regulation for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA) designed to ensure that motor carrier operators with a pattern
or practice of noncompliance are identified and prevented from establishing
new carriers or working for existing carriers until all agency requirements
for corrective actions have been met. The regulation will reduce
the likelihood of fatalities, injuries, and property and other damage
resulting from incidents involving these unsafe carriers.
Enhancing Regulations and Allowing Waivers
Equal in importance to developing standards is the Center's expertise in
helping the government to change those standards as technology evolves
and circumstances change. Modernizing regulations is an ongoing
process, and changes support the original intent of enhanced safety.
The Volpe Center understands the complex regulatory change process,
from preparing the technical requirements through publication of the
Final Rule.
Track Safety Standards
The Center has supported FRA in the area of Vehicle-Track Interaction
for more than 25 years. The Center's role has been pivotal in establishing
and modifying safety standards designed to reduce the number of trackgeometry-
related derailments. In the 1992 FRA reauthorization, Congress
specifically mandated a comprehensive review of FRA Track Safety
Standards, and in 1998 new track standards were issued. Since then, FRA
continues to reexamine the standards in light of new conditions and to
identify deficiencies in current laws and regulations, and it has issued
several amendments. The Volpe Center has supported FRA's RSAC Track
Vehicle Interaction Working Group and conducted numerous simulation
studies designed to identify critical geometry irregularities associated with
unsafe wheel forces and acceleration. The results are being used as the
technical basis for developing track-geometry standards.
Regulatory Waivers
Federal agencies have the power to waive regulatory requirements under
certain circumstances. The Center plays an important role
in providing agencies with impartial analyses of the impact
of the waivers. For example, FRA's Track Safety Standards
require railroads to periodically inspect rail on lines where
operating speeds exceed 40 mph and to take immediate
action to preserve operational safety whenever a rail defect
is discovered. The Volpe Center assisted FRA's Office of
Safety in evaluating a Union Pacific Railroad request for a
waiver. The railroad had proposed that, for defects not
exceeding a specified size, deferral of repair or other
action be permitted. The Center concluded that there are
potential benefits to delayed action, such as an increase in
the average number of track miles inspected per day by
the detector car. This could in turn lead to a decrease in
the number of rail failures. FRA took these findings into
consideration in granting a test waiver. A copy of the
report is available at http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sdd/docs/
fail/delayed.pdf.
Enforcing Regulations and Monitoring Compliance: Information Systems and Data Analysis Tools
The crash in Gander, Newfoundland, of
a chartered plane carrying American
soldiers became the impetus for a safety
database project.
Regulatory authorities must provide effective and consistent
oversight and enforcement. DOT federal and state
regulatory agencies employ a variety of tools for measuring
compliance with transportation safety regulations.
A key element in both enforcement and industry engagement
is the availability of safety databases and automated
analytical tools that support effective program decisions
and allow both government and industry to assess and
monitor compliance and take corrective actions. The Volpe
Center has proven expertise in developing safety databases
that record the performance of carriers for several transportation
modes. In 1985, following a tragic accident in
Gander, Newfoundland, where a charter flight carrying
more than 200 U.S. military personnel home for the holidays crashed
and killed all on board, the Volpe Center worked with the Department
of Defense (DoD) to develop a safety performance monitoring system for
air carriers. This provided DoD with a methodology for evaluating the
safety of carriers. The Center expanded this capability by creating the
Safety Performance Analysis System for scoring all air carriers. Similar
techniques were subsequently used by Center staff to develop SafeStat, a
system for assessing the relative safety of motor carriers. The structured
data analysis tools described here support enforcement and compliance
with safety regulations.
Analysis and Information (A&I) Online: Web-based Motor Carrier
Safety Information Resource
A&I Online provides useful motor carrier safety information quickly and
efficiently via the Internet to FMCSA and state personnel, motor carriers,
insurers, shippers, and other agencies to promote analytically sound,
safety-conscious decisions. The system continues to evolve in response to
technological advances and user needs.
The A&I Online website was initially developed in 1997 by the Volpe
Center to provide FMCSA headquarters and field staff with access to current
motor carrier safety data via the FMCSA Intranet. It soon became
clear that this innovative tool could also promote motor carrier selfimprovement.
In 1998, A&I became publicly available on the Internet.
A&I Online continues to expand in scope and audience and is updated
monthly based on user feedback and program goals. As it improves
communication among government agencies, industry, and the public,
A&I Online encourages a proactive approach to safety. One of the most
popular U.S. DOT websites, it logged more than 1.5 million visits in 2006.
Find it at http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/ or via the FMCSA homepage at http://
www.fmcsa.dot.gov/.
A&I Online provides comparative analysis, summary reports, and state and
national rankings derived from multiple data sources. The site is organized
into modules so that users can easily select their areas of interest.
- SafeStat Online is used by FMCSA field staff to identify and monitor carriers
with safety deficiencies, and by carriers to obtain their own safety
status measured relative to their peers. It provides detailed data on
crashes, out-of-service inspections, moving violations, compliance review
results, and enforcement cases.
- Crash Profiles Online provides summarized crash statistics for large trucks
and buses involved in fatal and nonfatal crashes that occurred in the
United States.
- Program Measures provides reports on a variety of performance data for
three key FMCSA safety programs: On-Site Compliance Reviews,
Roadside Inspections, and Traffic Enforcement.
- Passenger Carrier Safety provides easy-to-understand safety information
about for-hire passenger carriers for school trip planners, senior citizen
groups, and other buyers of bus services.
- NAFTA Safety Stats provides information and statistics on the U.S. operations
of all nationally registered interstate motor carriers and hazardous
materials intrastate motor carriers.
- Data Quality provides information and resources related to improving
the quality of state-reported crash and inspection data.
- Analysis Results & Reports provides links to the FMCSA periodic publication
MCSAFE (Motor Carrier Safety Analysis, Facts, and Evaluation),
the SafeStat Effectiveness Study, the New Entrant Safety Fitness
Assurance Study, Analysis Briefs, and other reports.
State Safety Data Quality
FMCSA shares a safety goal with the states to reduce the number and
severity of crashes involving large trucks and buses on our nation's highways.
To meet this common goal, it is essential that states collect and
report to FMCSA complete, accurate, and timely data on motor carrier
crashes and inspections. In turn, FMCSA uses this data to measure safety
programs and monitor safety performance more effectively. The Volpe
Center supports FMCSA efforts to improve the quality of state-reported
data, which include raising awareness, measuring data quality, and disseminating
results online.
FMCSA's State Safety Data Quality (SSDQ) methodology, developed by the
Volpe Center, evaluates the completeness, timeliness, accuracy, and consistency
of state-reported crash and inspection data, comparing the
quality of state-reported data with standards set by FMCSA. The
results of the analysis are disseminated via FMCSA's A&I Online website
and are updated on a quarterly basis; this analysis helps states to
determine where to focus their improvement efforts.
Improved data quality supports more efficient FMCSA data systems
and enhances FMCSA's ability to identify potentially unsafe carriers
and drivers.
Data Quality Improvement System
In support of FMCSA's emphasis on data quality, the Volpe Center recently
developed DataQs, a web-based system that makes it easier for motor
carriers to challenge the accuracy and completeness of safety data that has
been disseminated to the public and to facilitate corrections to that data.
This online system also makes it easier for FMCSA and state personnel to
manage and take action on challenges to federal and state motor carrier
data. With DataQs, FMCSA successfully streamlined the data-challenge
process while meeting the needs of each user, from those filing the
challenges to those managing them.
Motor Carrier Safety Enforcement
SafeStat (short for Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System) is an
automated, data-driven analysis system designed by the Volpe Center to
measure relative motor carrier safety fitness. The system is designed to
maximize the use of state-reported data and centralized federal data systems.
SafeStat allows FMCSA to continuously quantify and monitor
changes in the safety status of motor carriers, especially those that are
unsafe. This enables FMCSA enforcement and education programs to
allocate resources efficiently to carriers that pose the highest risk of crash
involvement.
Safety Program Effectiveness Measurement
The Volpe Center supported FMCSA in developing analytical models to
measure the effectiveness of its safety programs. These models provide a
baseline and an ongoing measurement tool through the use of standard
safety performance measures. They also provide FMCSA with the information
it needs to address the requirements of the Government Performance
and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993, which obligates all federal agencies to
measure the effectiveness of their programs as part of the budget cycle
process. To date, two models have been developed: the Compliance
Review Effectiveness Model and the Intervention Model, which measures
the effectiveness of the Roadside Inspection and Traffic Enforcement
Programs. Both models measure the benefits of these programs in terms
of crashes avoided, lives saved, and injuries avoided.
Identifying and Targeting High-Risk CMV Drivers
Research on commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes has highlighted
driver behavior as an increasingly important factor. Since there was no
centralized source of data on the regulatory compliance and safety
performance of CMV drivers available to FMCSA and state enforcement
personnel, the Volpe Center, in support of FMCSA, developed the Driver
Information Resource (DIR), a web-based lookup capability providing
crash and inspection histories on 3.8 million CMV drivers.
For a more detailed description of the Volpe Center's work on DIR see "Identifying and Targeting High-Risk Drivers with DIR (FMCSA)"
Supporting the Revised Hours-of-Service Rule
In 2003, FMCSA issued a revision to its Hours-of-
Service rule as a result of concern about the effect
of fatigue as a contributing factor in CMV crashes.
The success of FMCSA's enforcement and education
operations for the new rule depends in large
part on reliable, up-to-date safety information systems.
Center staff worked with FMCSA to ensure
smooth implementation of the new regulations into
existing FMCSA IT systems.
Pipeline Safety Monitoring and Reporting Tool
Increasing Driver Alertness: Driver fatigue
can contribute to commercial motor vehicle
crashes. The Volpe Center supports
FMCSA's enforcement of the Hours-of-
Service rule, which was developed to help
ensure that commercial drivers get an
appropriate amount of rest.
Volpe Center staff are currently developing a
web-based safety monitoring tool for the Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA). The Safety Monitoring and Reporting
Tool (SMART) is an information technology project
that will provide PHMSA with an integrated information source for
identifying pipeline safety trends, targeting solutions, and measuring
performance. SMART improves oversight of the pipeline industry by
providing an easy-to-use single point of access to pipeline information.
The tool can reduce the reporting burden on pipeline operators by fully
implementing electronic data collection, using the Internet where
possible, and sharing that information with state pipeline safety agencies
and other federal agencies.
Conclusion
The Volpe Center's work supporting surface transportation regulations
is an ongoing effort. As objectives change, the regulations must change
as well. The Center has supported several administrations in developing
regulations and performance standards involving detailed collaborative
engineering and testing. The staff has also been heavily involved in
developing guidelines to modify those standards as needed. The design
of collaborative websites and data sources has provided practical tools to
help ensure compliance and enforcement. The link between federal and
state organizations is crucial to the successful enforcement of regulations;
the Center's work for FMSCA in this arena provides a realistic model that
could be applicable in other administrations. The Center is proud of its
role in supporting the necessary agility of the regulatory process.
