Effectiveness of treatments to reduce congestion at level crossings: A traffic simulation evaluation

Crashes at railway level crossings are often catastrophic in terms of the number of fatalities and 23 serious injuries in a single event, especially if they involve heavy vehicles and derailment of 24 passenger trains (1 - 3). While representing a small proportion of crashes, a person or a vehicle is 25 hit by a train approximately every three hours in the US. Despite the recognition that a wide range of factors contribute to crashes at level 27 crossings , international investigations have consistently indicated that the major cause of level 28 crossing collisions is the road user (5), and that non - compliance with warning devices is 29 implicated in the majority of level crossing crashes (6 ; 7). Another main contributor to crashes is 30 the type of crossing and the warning infrastructure employed (e.g. 8; 9 - 13).