The Behavioural Assessment Tool for Rail Level Crossings

Collisions at rail level crossings (RLXs) are a significant public safety issue. Between 2016 and 2020, there were 170 collisions between trains and road vehicles at level crossings, and 22 collisions between trains and pedestrians in Australia (ONRSR, 2021). Research to better understand road user behaviour at RLXs is being funded by the Department of Transport through the Victorian Railway Crossing Safety Steering Committee to inform safety improvements at RLXs.

Part of this research has involved the development of the Behavioural Assessment Tool for Rail Level Crossings (BAT-RLX). This tool assesses the behaviour of RLX users (i.e. car drivers, heavy vehicle drivers, cyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians). The tool provides a structured data collection approach that can be used to answer questions relating to RLX user behaviours, demographics and attributes, and how behaviours and interactions between the RLX users and the infrastructure differs across sites.

The BAT-RLX is currently being used to assess RLXs within Victoria and is available for use by others. The tool can be used to:

• Assess individual RLX sites to identify issues and potential solutions for that site.
• Assess the behaviour of a particular user group (such as drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists) over different RLX sites.
• Make comparisons of user behaviours across different RLX sites to determine the potential influence of site features on behaviour.

Project resources

The following resources are available to support the use of the BAT-RLX:

• Video - Introduction to the BAT-RLX project
• Training video 1 – Preparation
• Training video 2 – Data coding
• Training video 3 – Data analysis
• User Guide
• Site Survey Template
• BAT-RLX Coding Spreadsheet Template

For further information about the BAT-RLX, contact Associate Professor Gemma Read.

References

ONRSR (2021). National Safety Data: Key Occurrences. Dataset accessed 30 June 2021 from: https://www.onrsr.com.au/publications/national-safety-data/key-occurrences