This report presents the findings of a literature review and stakeholder consultation investigating traffic delays at level crossings in the UK. The research aimed to investigate road traffic delays at level crossings, scope potential routes to reduce delays and propose key areas that would benefit from further research. The report provides findings on the different types of level crossings in the UK and how their operation may be related to traffic delays (manually controlled barrier crossings are most prone todelay); how traffic delay is defined (many factors are used to define a serious delay); consequences of delay; and factors which may affect trafficdelay and interventions which may help to mitigate traffic delays from the perspective of the railway and the highway, and how the two may combine to tackle the problem (no interventions were found which principally aimedto reduce delay, but some might mitigate traffic delay as a subsidiary effect). A number of case studies are also included. The principal findings were that there is a strong need for improved interaction between the roadand rail authorities, and that while the most effective means of reducingtraffic delay is to eliminate the level crossing, there is no clear funding mechanism to do this. (Author/publisher)
Abstract