State of Louisiana Highway-Rail Safety Action Plan Overview

1. State of Louisiana Highway-Rail Safety Action Plan Overview Mary Stringfellow Program Delivery Team Leader Federal Highway Administration Louisiana Division

2. Origins of the Action Plan US DOT Office of Inspector General Review in Louisiana – June 2004 March 2005 Emergency Rail Summit Result - Louisiana became one of the first states to prepare an action plan

3. Action Plan - Need High number of highway-rail collisions Exposure and Speed – Six out of 7 Class 1 RRs operate in LA with increasing speeds over the past 10 years Many crossings near roadway intersections Inconsistent enforcement and prosecution

4. Action Plan - Purpose Focus and organize safety efforts to reduce collisions at crossings To create the highway-rail grade portion of the SHSP To respond to the OIG’s June 2004 Report

5. Action Plan - Overview Input from state, federal, local and private stakeholders Special review given to multi-collision crossings within 6 year period (1999-2004) Multi-collision = 2+ crashes

6. Action Plan - Facts RRs operate in 57/64 parishes 3435 public at grade crossings 3133 private at grade crossings Approximately 3000 miles of rail 52 parishes = 862 collisions at public crossings from 1999-2004

7. Action Plan – Facts Continued 177 public multi-collision crossings = 432 of the 862 collisions 177 = 5% of public crossings but 50% of collisions 60% of all statewide collisions in 14 parishes 2 parishes accounted for 16% of multi-collision incidents – EBR and Caddo

8. Parishes with the Most Total Statewide Collisions

9. Parishes with the Most “Multi-Collisions” Incidents

10. Major Findings 53% of fatal collisions + 58% of injury collisions were at multi-collision crossings 85%+ collisions at crossings without gates 80% of all collisions involved train hitting highway user 85% of all collisions = driver “did not stop” Train speeds in collisions averaged from 29-31 mph

11. Major Difference Between ALL crossings and MULTI-collision crossings Collisions at highway-rail grade crossings located near highway intersections (less than 75 feet) make up 78% of the total statewide collisions, but comprise a much higher percentage (97%) of the collisions at “multi-collision” crossings.

12. Action Plan – Action Items Education Engineering Enforcement

13. Education Operation Lifesaver Increase presentations in identified areas Increase volunteers in identified areas Improve driver education Railroad Safety Summits Local Agencies

14. Enforcement Improve crash reporting quality Prioritize areas for targeted enforcement, focusing on crossings near intersections Law enforcement support for Officer on the Train programs

15. Engineering Systematic Diagnostic Review program Diagnostic Reviews of multi-collision crossings, focusing on intersections Improve highway-rail crossing inventory Legislation to give DOTD the ability to close crossings in interest of public safety Stop or Yield Sign Program Access Management task force

16. “Where are we now” Highlights Crossing Crashes have decreased LDOTD New Diagnostic Review Process and Form LDOTD New Priority Process for Highway-Rail Crossings Increased enforcement statewide Highway Rail Safety Driver Education DVD

17. Questions? Thank you!