Federal Railroad Administration

Engineering Design for Pedestrian Safety at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Federal Railroad Administration

This research was conducted to assess innovative and practical solutions for pedestrian grade crossing treatments, to make recommendations and guidelines for future upgrade projects, and to identify additional research for pedestrian treatments for which safety benefit analyses have not been conducted or are not understood. In addition to researching publicly available information of use of pedestrian grade crossing treatments, an outreach effort was made to each commuter and intercity passenger railroad within the United States. Amtrak, Caltrain, Capital Metro, Coaster, Metrolink, New Jersey Transit, and Long Island Railroad responded and shared some of their solutions to pedestrian safety at railroad grade crossings. Their solutions include inter-track fencing, pedestrian gates, swing gates, channelization, and detectable warnings, as well as other devices (audible warnings, etc.) that are not the focus of this research