The purpose of this research was to develop a simple model describing the impacts of rail-highway grade crossings (RHGCs) on emergency access. Linear cities and two-dimensional cities with square grid roadway networks are considered. For the purposes of the model, maximum response time from the emergency services base stations to the most distant point in the service area was minimised. The model indicates that the introduction of an RHGC into an optimised condition requires each base station to be relocated toward the RHGC, to again achieve optimal conditions. It also reveals that the impacts of a rail line through a city vary greatly with the orientation of the railline relative to the roadway grid. Suggestions for further model extension are presented.
Abstract