Railroad Crossing Safety Evaluation Approach For Addis Ababa Light Train

Railroad crossings are cardinal points in the rail system;their efficient operations have a bearing on the safety as well as rail and road traffic control.Railroad crossings are hotspots for accidents;moreover most of the reported accidents are as result of human factors.Accident statistics confirm that 95% of railroad crossing accidents are as a result of human factors especially road users.The introduction of the light train by the authorities was a good decision,however,it also brought a number of problems especially with regard to safety;the Addis Ababa light train continues to encounter railroad-crossing accidents.The project has not yielded the expected results;the city is still experiencing congestion problems and accidents keep on occurring.The Light Rail Transit train systems operate in shared rights-of-way with private cars and city buses in same selected lines.A survey of all private business firms located within 0.04 square kilometers of the stations indicated that business activity of firms was negatively affected by the Light Train project.When compared to the pre-implementation period,the survey showed business became less attractive;profitability reduced by an average of 9%.Therefore,the current study was aimed at starting a safety evaluation index system in order to help the stakeholders develop priorities and improve the safety performance of the Light Train in Addis Ababa.The study employed descriptive statistics,correlation analysis,regression models as well as factor analysis in order to understand the factors that contribute to railroad crossing accidents.The factors were then used in fuzzy evaluation.The study followed an explanatory research design because the mathematical models were used to understand the relationships between the key variables and development of safety evaluation factor ranking.Thereafter,a descriptive discussion was presented.The data was collected using questionnaire surveys to the operating organization and other key stakeholders.The questionnaire consisted of three sections: Background information and demographics,safety factors and performance factors.Accident data and other variables that are readily available were collected using secondary data in company reports and journal articles.The findings on the frequency of accidents confirmed that accidents are frequent at railroad crossings in Addis Ababa and the current performance of the railroad crossing can be ranked as poor.The regression model that was developed to predict accident frequency was statistically significant with the r-square value of 0.345 i.e.34.5% of the variation in accident frequency can be explained by the factors.Additionally,the same variables were used to predict the performance of railroad crossing.The R-square value for the accident frequency was 0.505,which entails that the model developed can explain 50.5% of the variation in railroad crossing performance.Therefore,was concluded that the factors explain the crossing performance better than frequency of crossing accidents.In order to assess the factors that have been extracted from the initial 25,Kaiser’s criterion was used to identify components that had eigenvalues greater than 1.Consequently,eight components where identified that explained a total of 67% of the variance.The factors included lack of stop sign,vehicle over speeding,pedestrian crossing,double flashing light,and sight distance,risk of grounding,invisible crossing panel and retro reflective signs.The study therefore recommends that there should be appropriate active or dynamic road signs put-up at railroad crossing junctions that are comprehensible.Additionally,railroad crossing performance indicators should be set in line with the accident factors.This will ensure timely reporting and trend analysis,which will enhance decision-making as well as compliance to regulations.The indicators must be limited to a specific number to avoid duplication and linked to a very clear set of frameworks about how the safety management system works at railroad crossings.Responsibility and accountability of the entire crossing factors should be encouraged in order provide a way of evaluating safety personnel.The drivers of railroad crossing accidents should be manipulated into quantifiable forms in order to track progress towards zero railroad crossing accidents.Additionally,the use of a design handbooks and ranking of the various safety standards can also be an effective way of handling accident problems.