Volpe Center: Volpe Center Highlights

Information Resources

Volpe Center Highlights - November/October 2000

Safety

Promote public health and safety by working toward the elimination of transportation-related deaths, injuries, and property damage.

Improving Airport Capacity at JFK International Airport (FAA)

On September 12, 2000, Mr. Robert Rudis of the Surveillance and Sensors Division presented the results of the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Jet Blast Test Program to a JFK Technical Review Panel. The Panel included representatives from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, JFK Tower and the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility, Air Transport Association, and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Eastern Region Office, as well as airline representatives from Delta Airlines, British Airways, and Korean Air. The Jet Blast Test Program was designed to determine whether spacings at JFK between departures of Heavy aircraft (e.g., Boeing 747) on runway 31L and arrivals of Large aircraft (e.g., MD80) or Small aircraft (e.g., turboprop) on runway 4R, which runs perpendicular to runway 31L, could be safely reduced. Reducing the spacings would improve airport capacity.

Under the current rules, if a departing Heavy aircraft is in the departure hold position on runway 31L and a Large or Small aircraft is on a 5-mile (120 seconds) final approach to runway 4R, the Heavy aircraft is held in position until the arriving aircraft has touched down. The concern has been that the arriving Large or Small aircraft would encounter the jet blast from the departing Heavy aircraft. The results of the Jet Blast Test Program clearly showed that 60 seconds after a Heavy aircraft departure on runway 31L, the jet blast turbulence encountered on the centerline of runway 4R is no worse than if the Heavy aircraft were sitting at the departure position of runway 31L and idling.

Following Mr. Rudis' presentation, the Technical Review Panel discussed how best to convert the results of the Jet Blast Test Program into new operational air traffic control procedures at JFK. The JFK Tower Chief, Mr. George Dodolin, agreed to review the current air traffic control procedures with his staff to determine how best to take advantage of the results of the Jet Blast Test Program. As a result of that review, Mr. Dodolin informed the FAA Eastern Region Office that, beginning November 1, 2000, the hold delay on departing Heavy aircraft on runway 31L would be reduced from the original 5-mile (120 seconds) final approach for arriving Large or Small aircraft on runway 4R to a 3-mile (72 seconds) final approach, a delay reduction of 40 percent. This reduction in hold delay represents a significant increase in throughput for JFK's operations.

Supporting Positive Train Control (FRA)

As part of its support to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Volpe Center is providing guidance to the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) on Positive Train Control (PTC). The committee is developing rules for the implementation of new signal-based train control systems. These new train control systems will use more advanced communication and control systems than previous systems. To help the FRA understand the safety implications of this technology, the Center has investigated how varying levels of information content and automation affect operator performance in train control.

From November 8 to 9, 2000, Dr. Jordan Multer of the Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division attended a meeting of the RSAC. Dr. Multer has been supporting this committee by presenting the human factors issues relevant to the development of standards for signaling and operating systems for PTC. At this meeting, Dr. Multer discussed the role of the operator as an information manager and described how the impact of automation and information design will affect operator performance and safety.

Volpe Staff Attend Safety Fatigue and Napping Seminar (FRA)

From October 26 to 27, 2000, Dr. Stephen Popkin and Dr. John Pollard of the Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division attended the Alertness 2000: Tools for Managing Fatigue in Transit seminar held in Arlington, Virginia. The seminar was sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in conjunction with the American Public Transportation Association, Community Transportation Association of America, and the National Sleep Foundation. The FTA hopes to conduct and facilitate similar fatigue awareness training within the transit industry in the future.

At the seminar, various internationally recognized speakers addressed the different facets of fatigue and its mitigation in the industry. Topics included defining alertness, intervention programs, scheduling, sleep and medicine, accident investigation, tools that identify and monitor fatigue, and other potential countermeasures.

The seminar was directly related to fatigue work that Dr. Popkin and Dr. Pollard are conducting for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), allowing them to leverage the "lessons learned" and work being conducted in transit to issues that they are addressing in the railway environment. Both Dr. Popkin and Dr. Pollard believe that this type of crosscutting effort falls within the One DOT initiative, allowing future savings in both research dollars and time.

Examining Issues for Pedestrians and Cyclists in Grade Crossings (FRA)

On October 18, 2000, Ms. Anya Carroll of the High Speed Ground Transportation Division moderated a panel session at the Sixth International Symposium on Railroad-Highway Grade Crossing Research and Safety held in Knoxville, Tennessee. More than 100 delegates from around the world met at the symposium, which was organized and hosted by the University of Tennessee's Center for Transportation Research. Crashes at railway level crossings have attracted special concern internationally because of their high mortality rate.

The topic of the panel session that Ms. Carroll moderated was "Issues Related to Pedestrians and Cyclists." The panelists included Mr. Richard Mather, Chair of the Transportation Research Board's A3A05 Committee on Railroad-Highway Grade Crossings, and Ms. Regina Richards, an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP). Ms. Richards is the former director for the National Center for Hazard Communication at UMCP and also the former director of Education and Training for Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) in Alexandria, Virginia.

Mr. Mather gave a presentation on pedestrian/cyclist safety at grade crossings in Australia and New Zealand. His presentation included a slide show of specific treatments to increase safety around grade crossings, including the use of alternative signs and signals, and innovative pedestrian gating systems that lead pedestrians toward the railroad tracks so that they face both directions of train approach before they cross the tracks.

Ms. Richards gave a presentation on an evaluation tool that she developed and validated in conjunction with her work at OLI. The tool, which is a questionnaire to evaluate the OLI Adult Trespass Prevention Educational Program, is for use on educational programs related to grade crossing safety.

The information from these presentations are "lessons learned" and can provide new knowledge that may help to finding solutions to the problem of safety at railway level crossings.

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