Presentations from the 2008 Rail Corridor Safety Conference

Day 1   » Day 2   » Day 3

Session 1:
The Corridor Perspective - Working Together for Mobility and Safety

Keynote Presentations

Charlie Hagood, Senior Grade Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Manager - Region 7, Federal Railroad Administration
Laura Melendy, Director, Technology Transfer Program, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California Berkeley

• The Big Picture (PDF, 494K)
  Professor Genevieve Giuliano, Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Research and Technology, School of Policy, Planning and Development, USC; Director, METRANS Transportation Center
• Railroad Corridor Grade Crossing Safety:
  A comprehensive approach to Planning, Development & Implementation
  Darell Johnson, Director, Transit Project Delivery, Orange County Transportation Authority
• Corridors and Stakeholders: The VCTC Experience (Windows Media Video, 7.6M)
  Keith Millhouse, Councilman, City of Moorpark; VCTC Board; incoming Vice-Chair, Metrolink; Millhouse Law Group

Session 2:
Coordinating the Corridor

Moderator: Melvin Thomas, Manager Public Projects, BNSF Railway Company

• Metrolink's Sealed Corridor Project (PDF, 1.0M)
  Steve Wylie, Assistant Executive Officer, Southern California Regional Rail Authority/Metrolink
• Coordination in a Congested Common Corridor (PDF, 818K)
  Paul O'Brien, Rail Service General Manager, Rail Service Center, Utah Transit Authority
• The Success of Intercity Passenger Rail in California, the Least Likely of Places;
  What Made It Happen, How It Works, and How It Can Be a Model for Other States to Follow (PDF, 1.2M)
  Eugene K. Skoropowski, Managing Director, Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority
• Implementing a Rail Corridor Safety Project:
  Balancing Port Expansion, Continuous Freight Service, Amtrak Passengers, and an Angry Public in the Biggest Little City in the World (PDF, 5.2M)
  Mark A. Demuth, AICP, Principal, CDM

Session 3:
National Updates

Moderator: LeeAnn Dickson, Grade Crossing and Trespassing Manager (Region 7), Federal Railroad Administration

• Federal Railroad Administration (PDF, 77K)
  Grady Cothen, Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards, Federal Railroad Administration
• Federal Highway Administration (PDF, 222K)
  Guan Xu, Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Program Manager, FHWA, Office of Safety Design
• American Short Line Railroad Association (PDF, 421K)
  Thomas E. Streicher, General Superintendent - Safety, Security & Operating Practices, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association
• Association of American Railroads (PDF, 479K)
  William M. Browder, Director of Operations, Association of American Railroads
• California Public Utilities Commission (PDF, 70K)
  Richard W. Clark, Director, Consumer Protection and Safety Division, California Public Utilities Commission

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Session 4:
Land Use, Planning and Development Around the Rails

Moderator: Charlie Hagood, Senior Grade Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Manager - Region 7, Federal Railroad Administration

• Planning and Permitting Shared Use Corridors:
  Agreements Facilitating the Development of Multi-Jurisdictional Passenger Rail Systems (PDF, 192K)
  Kathryn Pett, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP, Utah
• Endangered Railroad Corridors, Ex-Urban Encroachments (PDF, 319K)
  Dennis Kearns, Legislative Council, BNSF Railway Company
• North Carolina Projects: Streamlining Rail Operations (PDF, 2.1M)
  Paul C. Worley, CPM, Director, Engineering & Safety, NCDOT Rail Division
• Protecting Rail Corridors Against Encroachment (PDF, 1.4M)
  Lisa Loftus-Otway, Attorney at Law (licensed in New York), Research Associate, The University of Texas at Austin, Center for Transportation Research, Cockrell School of Engineering

Session 5A:
Grade Crossing Design In Practice

• SCRRA Standards and Procedures fro Railroad Grade Crossings (PDF, 672K)
  Don A. Sepulveda, P.E., Associate Vice President, DMJM Harris/AECOM
• Local Agency Perspective (PDF, 724K)
  Sean Skehan, PE, PTOE, City of Los Angeles, Department of Transportation
• Design of Traffic Signal Improvements Next to Railroad Crossings - Recent Experiences in Southern California (PDF, 2.2M)
  Eric Hankinson, CE, President, Rail Pros

Session 5B:
Quiet Zones - Success Stories and Case Studies

Moderator: Varoujan Jinbachian, PE, Senior Utilities Engineer - Rail Crossings Engineering Section, California Public Utilities Commission

• Quiet Zones Experiences (PDF, 5.2M)
  Ron Ries, Staff Director - Highway Rail Crossing and Trespasser Division, Federal Railroad Administration
• Four Quadrant Gates & Other Supplemental Safety Measures - Illinois Experience (PDF, 4.8M)
  Brian Vercruysse, Senior Rail Safety Specialist, Illinois Commerce Commission
• UTA Commuter Rail North Quiet Zone: Lessons Learned (PDF, 812K)
  Jeremy Harbaugh, Design Manager Mid-Jordan Light Rail Line, Utah Transit Authority; Parsons Brinckerhoff
• Placentia's Quiet Zone (PDF, 2.7M)
  Robert Dominguez, City Administrator, City of Placentia

Session 5C:
Community Outreach - A Primer For Agencies

Moderator: Jalene Forbis, Executive Director, California Short Line Railroad Association

• Union Pacific Railroad Community Outreach (PDF, 636K)
  Lupe Valdez, Director of Public Policy & Community Affairs, Corporate Relations, Union Pacific Railroad
• BNSF Community Outreach
  Trini Jimenez, Director, Government Affairs, BNSF Railway Company
• Implementing a Motor Vehicle Safety Program for the Spanish Speaking Worker (PDF, 1.8M)
  Kimberly Naffziger, Executive Director, AgSafe; Program Development Specialist, Center for Agricultural Business, CSU Fresno

Session 6:
Conducting Effective Crossing Diagnostics

Moderator: John Shurson, Assistant Director Public Projects, BNSF Railway Company

• Railroad Grade Crossing Diagnostics - A Different Approach
  Don A. Sepulveda, P.E., Associate Vice President, DMJM Harris/AECOM
• Effective Diagnostic Tools to Improve Decisions (PDF, 1.5M)
  Kurt Anderson, Vice President, Campbell Technology Corporation
• Analysis of Grade Crossings (PDF, 1.3M)
  Brent D. Ogden, CE, PTOE DMJM Harris

Session 7A:
Grade Separations

• Grade Separations Cheap and Expensive: California Section 190 Fund and other Resources (PDF, 6.5M)
  Ken Galt, Chief of Railroad Crossing Safety Branch, Caltrans
• ACE Project-Update
  Challenges for Funding and Implementing Grade Separations and Safety Upgrades (PDF, 2.4M)
  Sharon Neely, Director of Transportation Policy, Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority
• Grade Separation Final Report
  Rex Nicholson Professional Civil Engineer, President, Trans Tech Group, Inc. (FL)
• The FRA's Role in Grade Crossing Consolidation and Closure (PDF, 795K)
  Beth Crawford, Federal Railroad Administration

Session 7B:
Roadway Maintenance and Workzones

Moderator: Daren Gilbert, Rail Crossings Engineering Section, Consumer Protection and Safety Division, California Public Utilities Commission

• Dealing and Coordinating With the Railroads
  Terry Blocker, General Manager, Road Work Inc.: Railroad Services Division
• Crossing Maintenance: A Public Agency Perspective (PDF, 504K)
  Vijay Sinha, Department of Public Works City of Stockton
• Temporary Traffic Control Near Railroads (PDF, 1.0M)
  Ron Mathieu, Manager, Rail Corridor Crossings & Encroachments, Southern California Regional Rail Authority

Session 7C: Private Crossings

Moderator: Chris Adams, Regional Grade Crossing and Trespassing Manager, Federal Railroad Administration

• Briefing on FRA Community Meeting (PDF, 1.1M)
  Grady Cothen, Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards, Federal Railroad Administration
• North Carolina's Private Crossing Safety Initiative (PDF, 4.3M)
  Paul C. Worley, CPM, Director, Engineering & Safety, NCDOT Rail Division
• Who's on First?
  Or: Who Steps Up When There Is a Safety Concern at Rural Private Rail Crossings Without Clear Ownership?
  Mary Travis, Manager, Metrolink and Intercity Rail Ventura County Transportation Commission

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Session 8:
Security - National Security and Rail Corridors

Moderator: Jalene Forbis, Executive Director, California Short Line Railroad Association

• Enlisiting Citizens and Communities in the Rail Security Efforts (PDF, 956K)
  Bill Heileman, General Director, Homeland Security, BNSF Railway Company
• Rail Safety and Security (TSA) (PDF, 1.7M)
  Deborah Wojnicz, Northwest Area Director, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Rail Sector Security Program
• Preparedness of the Industry (PDF, 3.8M)
  Thomas E. Streicher, General Superintendent - Safety, Security & Operating Practices, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association

Session 9A:
Crossing Research Updates and Human Factors

Moderator: Ron Ries, Staff Director - Highway Rail Crossing and Trespasser Division, Federal Railroad Administration

• FRA/Volpe Center Rail Right-of-Way - Research Up-Dates (PDF, 239K)
  Anya A. Carroll, Acting Deputy Director, Office of Surface Transportation Programs, USDOT/RITA/Volpe Center
• The Critical Role of Human Factors in the Consideration of Grade Crossing Safety
  Professor Najmedin Meshkati, PhD, CPE, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Metrans Center; University of Southern California
• A Study of Pedestrian Behavior at Grade Crossings (PDF, 635K)
  Dr. Gavin Huntley-Fenner, Exponent
• Driver Decisions at Gated Rail-Highway Crossings (PDF, 397K)
  Douglas L. Cooper, Senior Research Associate, Traffic Safety Center, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Session 9B:
Emergency Preparedness and Law Enforcement

Moderator: Charlie Hagood, Senior Grade Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Manager - Region 7, Federal Railroad Administration

• Grade Crossing Collision Investigations/First Responders
  Steve Smith, Deputy, LA County Sheriffs Department - Metro Link

Session 9C:
Trespass and Suicide

• The FRA Trespasser Demographic Report:
  Rail-Trespassing Fatalities: Developing Demographic Profiles (PDF, 631K)
  Pamela Caldwell-Foggin, Crossing Safety & Trespass Prevention Program, Federal Railroad Administration
• Suicides on the Railroad: Epidemiology and Prevention (PDF, 216K)
  Dr. Ramya Sundararaman, MD, MPH, Research Director - Railroad Suicide Prevention Project, American Association of Suicidology
• Can't Stop that Train! - A Legal Perspective on Trespass and Suicide Issues Affecting Railroads (PDF, 135K)
  Michael N. Conneran, Partner, Hanson Bridget Marcus, Vlahos and Rudy Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (Caltrain)

Session 10A:
Pedestrian Crossings

Moderator: Darryl Morrow, Grade Crossing Manager - Region 8, Federal Railroad Administration

• Overview of Existing Pedestrian Devices (PDF, 1.1M)
  Ron Ries, Staff Director - Highway Rail Crossing and Trespasser Division, Federal Railroad Administration
• Pedestrian Crossing Treatments in Use in California (PDF, 1.0M)
  Daren Gilbert, CPUC, Rail Crossings Engineering Section

Session 10B:
Updates - MUTCD and the Rail Grade Crossing Handbook

• Rail Grade Crossing Handbook - Updates (PDF, 68K)
  Brent D. Ogden, CE, PTOE DMJM Harris
• MUTCD Updates (PDF, 580K)
  Rick Campbell, Vice President for Engineering Service, Rio Grand Pacific Corporation

Session 10C:
Risk Analysis

• GRADEC - Analytical Software for Grade Crossing Risk Assessment: Updates and Improvements (PDF, 200K)
  Karen McClure, Economist, Federal Railroad Administration
• North Carolina Sealed Corridor Study (PDF, 365K)
  Patrick Bien-Aime, Volpe Center USDOT

Session 11A:
Quiet Zones - In Depth Workshop

Session 11B:
Preemption - In Depth Workshop

Session 11C:
Corridors and Shared Use

Moderator: Beth Crawford, Grade Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Division, Federal Railroad Administration

• 2008-Shared Use in the United States and FRA's Safety Oversight Program (PDF, 178K)
  Edward W. Pritchard, Director - Safety Assurance and Compliance, Federal Railroad Administration
• Operations in FRA Shared Use Corridors - Wrestling with a Start Up (PDF, 1.1M)
  Wayne Penn, Manager of Rail System Safety & Compliance, North County Transit District
• A Light Rail Perspective (PDF, 457K)
  Georgetta Gregory, Supervisor - Rail Transit Safety Section, California Public Utilities Commission