Driver Behavior at Railway-Highway Grade Crossings with Passive Traffic Control: A Driving Simulator Study

Research to evaluate driver behavior at railway-highway grade crossings with passive traffic control attempts to find an answer to a much debated subject. This study examines the difference in driver behavior and safety at several different types of passive traffic control at grade crossings utilizing a driving simulator. This project utilized the University of Tennessee’s high fidelity driving simulator to perform a study on passive highway-railway grade crossings. Although the crash rates at grade crossings have decreased in recent years, there is still more work to be done. Safety improvements can be made to both passive and active grade crossings. However, with increasingly tight budgets for transportation infrastructure, there is not enough money to upgrade and improve every grade crossing. Upgrading a passive grade crossing with flashing lights or gates is very expensive and can cost upwards of $400,000 in some parts of the country. This paper further investigates the use of STOP and YIELD signs as viable alternatives to upgrading a passive grade crossing to an active grade crossing. By utilizing a driving simulator, several variables were tested on sixty-four drivers in a safe environment. The driving simulator allowed tests to be run on grade crossings that range from safe to fairly unsafe. By varying the visibility at the crossing, which sign the driver saw at the crossing, the presence of a train, and the presence of other traffic, reasonable conclusions about the safety of various types of passive grade crossings are made.