Mass Transit - 30

Rail Safety
they were in an active crossing,
[so] you saw more of them staying
away instead of them stopping in
the middle of the rail crossing,"
Thibault said. "We hope by employing [dynamic envelopes] at
different locations, we'll start to
see that phenomenon more."
And Thibault says this is just
one tool to help improve rail
safety. FDOT will also look into
adding more signage in select
locations, which could include
more reflective signage and using
updated technology and communications systems related to different signals.
Additional signage and dynamic envelopes aren't the only engineering solutions out there. With
more people exhibiting distracted
behavior around rail property, it
has become easier for them to enter

"[The ATP] provides a passive
deterrent to pedestrian foot traffic
in the right-of-way, as well as areas such as platform ends where
pedestrian are not permitted,"
McBrayer said. "Various types
of alternative, more rudimentary and makeshift solutions have
been available in the past, but
these tend to be nonfunctional."

effective deterrent to trespassers.
"[The evaluation] of the ATPs
on pedestrian behavior indicates
that over a 60-day period-30 days
before and 30 days after ATP installation-a 38-percent reduction
in trespassing incidents was observed," McBrayer said.

OLI HAS a new
PSA aimed
at addressing
distracted
behavior.

Education is half
the battle

OLI

FDOT

the tracks on foot without realizing it. L.B. Foster developed an
anti-trespass panel (ATP), which
hit the North American transit
and freight rail markets in 2019,
according to Sarah McBrayer, assistant general manager of transit
products at L.B. Foster.

30 |

Made from 100 percent recycled rubber, the ATP has a cone
design that provides an uneven
walking surface and is available
in three different styles. And according to a July 2019 FRA study
that evaluated the effectiveness
of the ATPs, they serve as an

Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | FEBRUARY 2020

REQUIRING
DYNAMIC
envelopes to
be included in
the standard
design of any
future crossing
is one way FDOT
is boosting rail
safety.

Finding effective engineering
solutions and educating communities about rail safety is just half
the battle, explains OLI Executive
Director Rachel Maleh.
"Our work is really cut out
for us because we are trying to
change human behavior [too],"
Maleh said.
This means pulling people
away from their phone screens
and paying attention to their surroundings to reduce the number
of trespassing and near miss incidents, something OLI's new PSA
distracted behavior campaign
is working towards, which lauanched in November 2019
"People are distracted on their
phones," Maleh said. "They're
looking down, they're listening
to music or videos or even having
phone conversations. People are
more distracted than they were
five to 10 years ago."
The campaign targets 16- to
24-year-old males and features a
social media rollout with 15 and
30 second clips of the campaign's
video, which shows a young male
walking on train tracks with
earbuds in not realizing a train
is coming up behind him. The
video ends with the slogan "the
only thing that belongs on a track
is a train" and reiterates how fast
trains move and how much quieter they are now compared to a
few decades ago.
To engage with younger audiences, OLI has also created a blog
on their website for people to share
their stories about a near miss incident, which will then be shared
on OLI's social media pages, explains Chantez Bailey, director of

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