Mass Transit - 36

Vital Protection During

Critical Work
Enhanced real-time location of both workers and
trains, along with other technology advancements,
are helping maintenance personnel stay protected
where and when they need it most.
By Megan Perrero, assistant editor

s agencies become more aware
of the multiple distractions
that can cause human errors, they may look to products and equipment for a
solution to enhance safety
for maintenance-of-way
(MOW) workers.
"Unfortunately, control center
personnel, train operators and
roadway personnel are encountering more and more visual stimuli
and other distractions that may
make them vulnerable to failures
in executing their primary duties
to protect roadway workers," explained Jaime Maguire, program
MILLER INGENUITY'S ZoneGuard
is a portable, electric roadway
worker protection system.
Miller Ingenuity

36 |

director of safety solutions, Protran Technology (Protran).
But with the use of proper and
updated safety equipment, agencies can continue their efforts in
eliminating these incidents safely
and efficiently.

Safe Location
Confirmation

Protran offers various types of
Roadway Worker Protection
(RWP) systems which include a
vehicle, wayside and portable option. These serve as a secondary
warning system to roadway workers if a train is approaching, giving
them enough time to get to safety.
Thanks to technology advancements, these warning systems have
evolved from providing localized

Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | APRIL/MAY 2020

PROTRAN'S
RANGING
Protracker
System is a
vehicle-based
RWP system
that provides
a visual and
audible alert.
Protran Technology

accuracy and simple notifications
to having precision accuracy, creating a more robust system.
"[This] allows for worker tracking, geofencing, ranging technology to calculate the distance to
workers and/or to extend or limit
signal communications, discernible multiple-train alerts and
time-based or distance-based
warnings," Maguire said.
For instance, with a simpler
version of Protran's vehicle-based
system, a roadway worker's personal alert device would issue an audio
and visual warning to the train operator but didn't tell the operator
if the worker had made it to safety.
Protran's latest version of its vehicle-based system now provides the
operator with additional information before they come into visual
contact with the roadway worker.
"The operator is provided [with
the] exact distance that they are
from the roadway worker on an
'unconfirmed' screen, which gives
the operator time to start to slow
or stop if necessary," Maguire
said. "The roadway worker, once
he receives an alert that a train is
approaching, is required to move
to a place of safety and push a
'confirm' button on his personal
alert device."
The vehicle-based system uses
one component for the vehicle and
one component for a personal alert
device worn by the worker, Maguire says. A warning is provided to
the train operator via radio signals that the train is approaching
a worker. The worker also receives
an audio and visual warning when
a train is nearing the work zone.
The wayside-based system also
uses a personal alert device and has

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