title: Sensitivity analyses of stopping distance for connected vehicles at active highway-rail grade crossings.
abstract: This paper performs sensitivity analyses of stopping distance for connected vehicles (CVs) at active highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs). Stopping distance is the major safety factor at active HRGCs. A sensitivity analysis is performed for each variable in the function of stopping distance. The formulation of stopping distance treats each variable as a probability density function for implementing Monte Carlo simulations. The result of the sensitivity analysis shows that the initial speed is the most sensitive factor to stopping distances of CVs and non-CVs. The safety of CVs can be further improved by the early provision of onboard train information and warnings to reduce the initial speeds.
authors.affiliation: Bowhead Logistic Solutions, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590, USA. Electronic address: chung-jen.hsu.ctr@dot.gov.
authors.forename: Chung-Jen
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, PKI 203E, 1110 S 67th Street Omaha, NE 68182-0178, USA. Electronic address: libby.jones@unl.edu.
authors.forename: Elizabeth G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011890:Railroads / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012449:Safety / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Connected vehicles; High-Rail grade crossings; Sensitivity analysis; Stopping distance