Pedestrian and Bicyclist Trespassing Impacts on Rail Grade Crossings Safety and Mobility

Authors

• Shanyue Guan, Purdue UniversityFollow
• Siqi Chen, Purdue UniversityFollow
• Shufan Liu, Purdue UniversityFollow
• Samy Noureldin, Indiana Department of TransportationFollow
• Bridgette Hail, Indiana Department of TransportationFollow
• Brandon Burgoa, Indiana Department of TransportationFollow
• Elizabeth Mouser, Indiana Department of TransportationFollow
• Alison Shaner, Indiana Department of TransportationFollow
• Paige Story, FHWAFollow
• Karen Stippich, FHWAFollow

Abstract

Highway roads intersect with a railroad track, forming a multimodal transportation system. The intersection is called a highway railroad grade crossing (HRGC). Because of the multiple transportation operations, induced conflict at the grade crossing, crashes may happen between road users (e.g., automobiles, pedestrians, bicyclists, etc.) and trains in operations at highway railroad grade crossings. This is a global challenge for many countries around the world. According to the 2022–2026 Indiana Strategic Highway Safety Plan and 2022 Indiana Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Action Plan, one of the biggest challenges facing Indiana is the higher numbers of pedestrians in and around crossing locations and the possible eligibility of Federal funds to address nonmotorized safety concerns. This study systematically examined the grade crossing safety impacts among human factors, environmental factors, warning device conditions, and other factors through extensive site visits and data analysis. Key findings indicate that grade crossing safety is a function of multiple parameters. Different factors have various levels of contribution to the potential crashes. Crash report analysis and site visit outcomes consistently highlighted some factors’ impacts on the grade crossing safety for nonmotorized users in Indiana. Implementing the insights from this study is expected to improve grade crossing safety, mitigate potential grade crossing crashes, and optimize the budget for grade crossing upgrades and improvements.

Keywords

grade crossing, pedestrians, bicyclists, FRA grade crossing dataset, data analysis, statistical model, surveillance camera, site visit

Report Number

FHWA/IN/JTRP-2026/09

SPR Number

4816

Sponsoring Organization

Indiana Department of Transportation

Performing Organization

Joint Transportation Research Program

Publisher Place

West Lafayette, Indiana

Date of Version

2026

DOI

10.5703/1288284318617

Recommended Citation

Guan, S., Chen, S., Liu, S., Noureldin, S., Hail, B., Burgoa, B., Mouser, E., Shaner, A., Story, P., & Stippich, K. (2026). Pedestrian and bicyclist trespassing impacts on rail grade crossings safety and mobility (Joint Transportation Research Program Publication No. FHWA/IN/JTRP-2026/09). West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University. https://doi.org/10.5703/1288284318617