Multi-criteria prioritization of highway-rail grade crossings for improvements: a case study

Contrary to the declining railroad-highway crossing crashes over the past decade, the pedestrian-railroad interface has remained relatively unchanged. While engineering solutions and law enforcement have been tried, little is known about their effectiveness on the pedestrian mindset and psychology. One of the main reason for crashes of this type is that pedestrians tend to be restless while waiting at railroad crossings. This can lead to pedestrians performing irrational acts such as attempting to walk across a crossing before a train arrives. Earlier, trains traveled at slower speeds which pedestrians could react to easily and trains had less freight so it needed less braking distance and thus it was easier to control them. There are many factors with the potential to improve pedestrian safety at railroad crossings. In this paper the current safety norms for railroad crossings existing across in more than 40 major cities in US were analyzed to determine the existing safety standards for pedestrians at railroad grade crossings. State departments of transportation (DOTs) were contacted, along with professionals in public and private sector involved in safety at railroad crossing and ask them what according to them is a high risk railroad grade crossings in their area, safety practices that are common in their area, various threats to Safety implementation and then analyze these crossing for the types, safety signs and equipment present at them.

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Microsimulation Analysis of Highway-Rail Grade Crossings: A Case Study in Lincoln, Nebraska

IEEE/ASME/ASCE 2008 Joint Rail Conference ◽

10.1115/jrc2008-63063 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Laurence R. Rilett ◽

Justice Appiah

Keyword(s):

Control Strategy ◽

Traffic Control ◽

Microscopic Traffic Simulation ◽

Variable Message Signs ◽

Driver Response ◽

Grade Crossing ◽

Grade Crossings ◽

Message Signs ◽

Different Levels

This paper examines the usefulness of supplementing railroad preemption operations at highway-rail grade crossings with variable message signs. Using the microscopic traffic simulation model, VISSIM, the effects on grade crossing operations of different train dwell times as well as different levels of driver response to a variable message sign in the vicinity of the crossing are assessed. The results affirm the potential usefulness of variable message signs for preventing lengthy queues and illustrate the importance of explicitly considering the delay experienced by vehicles on the blocked roadway in developing a traffic control strategy for highway-rail grade crossings.

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Development of Algorithms for Effective Resource Allocation among Highway–Rail Grade Crossings: A Case Study for the State of Florida

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13061419 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 1419 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Masoud Kavoosi ◽

Maxim A. Dulebenets ◽

Junayed Pasha ◽

Olumide F. Abioye ◽

Ren Moses ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Resource Allocation ◽

Decision Support ◽

Smart City ◽

Heuristic Algorithms ◽

Transportation Networks ◽

Optimization Models ◽

Decision Support Tools ◽

Support Tools ◽

Grade Crossings

Smart cities directly rely on a variety of elements, including water, gas, electricity, buildings, services, transportation networks, and others. Lack of properly designed transportation networks may cause different economic and safety concerns. Highway–rail grade crossings are known to be a hazardous point in the transportation network, considering a remarkable number of accidents recorded annually between highway users and trains, and even solely between highway users at highway–rail grade crossings. Hence, safety improvement at highway–rail grade crossings is a challenging issue for smart city authorities, given limitations in monetary resources. In this study, two optimization models are developed for resource allocation among highway–rail grade crossings to minimize the overall hazard and the overall hazard severity, taking into account the available budget limitations. The optimization models are solved by CPLEX to the global optimality. Moreover, some heuristic algorithms are proposed as well. A case study focusing on the public highway–rail grade crossings in the State of Florida is performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed optimization models and the solution methodologies. In terms of the computational time, all the solution approaches are found to be effective decision support tools from the practical standpoint. Moreover, the results demonstrate that some of the developed heuristic algorithms can provide near-optimal solutions. Therefore, the smart city authorities can utilize the proposed heuristics as decision support tools for effective resource allocation among highway–rail grade crossings.

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The Genesis and Internal Dynamics of El Salvador's People's Revolutionary Army, 1970–1976

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x13009850 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 38 (01) ◽

pp. 102-129

Author(s):

ALBERTO MARTÍN ÁLVAREZ ◽

EUDALD CORTINA ORERO

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

El Salvador ◽

Early Years ◽

Left Wing ◽

Internal Dynamics ◽

Internal Coherence ◽

The 1960S

AbstractUsing interviews with former militants and previously unpublished documents, this article traces the genesis and internal dynamics of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (People's Revolutionary Army, ERP) in El Salvador during the early years of its existence (1970–6). This period was marked by the inability of the ERP to maintain internal coherence or any consensus on revolutionary strategy, which led to a series of splits and internal fights over control of the organisation. The evidence marshalled in this case study sheds new light on the origins of the armed Salvadorean Left and thus contributes to a wider understanding of the processes of formation and internal dynamics of armed left-wing groups that emerged from the 1960s onwards in Latin America.

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Culture and the plasticity of perception

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19002887 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Lifshitz ◽

T. M. Luhrmann

Keyword(s):

Cultural Context ◽

Sensory Experience ◽

Cultural Learning ◽

The World

Abstract Culture shapes our basic sensory experience of the world. This is particularly striking in the study of religion and psychosis, where we and others have shown that cultural context determines both the structure and content of hallucination-like events. The cultural shaping of hallucinations may provide a rich case-study for linking cultural learning with emerging prediction-based models of perception.

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Dual systems for all: Higher-order, role-based relational reasoning as a uniquely derived feature of human cognition

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19000451 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel J. Povinelli ◽

Gabrielle C. Glorioso ◽

Shannon L. Kuznar ◽

Mateja Pavlic

Keyword(s):

Temporal Reasoning ◽

Higher Order ◽

Important Case ◽

Human Cognition ◽

Relational Reasoning ◽

Dual Systems ◽

First Order ◽

Reasoning System ◽

Role Based

Abstract Hoerl and McCormack demonstrate that although animals possess a sophisticated temporal updating system, there is no evidence that they also possess a temporal reasoning system. This important case study is directly related to the broader claim that although animals are manifestly capable of first-order (perceptually-based) relational reasoning, they lack the capacity for higher-order, role-based relational reasoning. We argue this distinction applies to all domains of cognition.

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Sociocultural memory development research drives new directions in gadgetry science

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19000979 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Penny Van Bergen ◽

John Sutton

Keyword(s):

Episodic Memory ◽

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Developmental Psychology ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Memory Development ◽

Development Research ◽

Cultural Research ◽

New Directions ◽

Cross Cultural Research

Abstract Sociocultural developmental psychology can drive new directions in gadgetry science. We use autobiographical memory, a compound capacity incorporating episodic memory, as a case study. Autobiographical memory emerges late in development, supported by interactions with parents. Intervention research highlights the causal influence of these interactions, whereas cross-cultural research demonstrates culturally determined diversity. Different patterns of inheritance are discussed.

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Construction of plastic contact deformation maps on ceramics: a case study on aluminum nitride

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100165641 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 636-637

Author(s):

D. L. Callahan

Keyword(s):

Plastic Deformation ◽

Aluminum Nitride ◽

Mechanical Response ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Bright Field Image ◽

Perfectly Plastic ◽

Contrast Analysis ◽

Deformation Patterns

Modern polishing, precision machining and microindentation techniques allow the processing and mechanical characterization of ceramics at nanometric scales and within entirely plastic deformation regimes. The mechanical response of most ceramics to such highly constrained contact is not predictable from macroscopic properties and the microstructural deformation patterns have proven difficult to characterize by the application of any individual technique. In this study, TEM techniques of contrast analysis and CBED are combined with stereographic analysis to construct a three-dimensional microstructure deformation map of the surface of a perfectly plastic microindentation on macroscopically brittle aluminum nitride.The bright field image in Figure 1 shows a lg Vickers microindentation contained within a single AlN grain far from any boundaries. High densities of dislocations are evident, particularly near facet edges but are not individually resolvable. The prominent bend contours also indicate the severity of plastic deformation. Figure 2 is a selected area diffraction pattern covering the entire indentation area.

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