Passive controls are still used at many highway-railroad grade crossings.This study addresses the effectiveness of one passive control, the stop sign treatment, on railroad crossing safety. A 26-year crash history analysis was conducted for 7,394 public highway-railroad grade crossings that were upgraded from being controlled by crossbucks only to stop signs without the involvement of other traffic control devices. Findings indicate safety, as judged by the frequency of crashes, was improved by adding stop signs to higher-risk crossings that were previously controlled only by crossbucks. However, these findings do not suggest that all passive grade crossings be upgraded to stop control, since many crossbucks-only crossings represent a very low crash risk and thus may not warrant the upgrade.
Abstract