Citation

Wu Z, Rilett LR, Chen Y. Transp. Res. Rec. 2018; 2672(10): 1-11.

Affiliation

Transportation Analyst, AECOM, Pompano Beach, FL 2Nebraska Transportation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 3Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 4Traffic Engineer, AECOM, Southfield, MI Corresponding Author: Address correspondence to Zifeng Wu: lilianwu2015@gmail.com

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0361198118792756

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs) have a range of safety and operational impacts on highway traffic networks. This paper illustrates a methodology for evaluating travel-time reliability for the routes and networks affected by trains traveling through HRGCs. A sub-area network including three HRGCs is used as the study network, and a simulation model calibrated to local traffic conditions and signal preemption strategies using field data is used as the platform to generate travel time data for analysis. Time-dependent reliability intervals for route travel time are generated based on route travel-time means and standard deviations. OD level reliability is calculated using a generic reliability engineering approach for parallel and series systems. The route travel time reliability results can be provided as real-time traffic information to assist drivers' route-choice decisions. The OD level reliability is a way to quantify the impact of HRGCs on highway network operation. This effort fills the gap of reliability research for HRGCs on the route and sub-area network level, and contributes to improving the efficiency of decision-making for both traffic engineers and drivers.

Language: en