Volpe Center: Volpe Center Highlights

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Volpe Center Highlights - Fall 2004

Safety

Measuring the Effectiveness of HAZMAT Safety Programs (FMCSA)

Volpe developed analytic models that provide FMCSA with the information it needs to address the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), which obligates Federal agencies to measure the effectiveness of their programs as part of the budget cycle process.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was established in 2000 to reduce the number of crashes, deaths, and injuries involving large trucks and buses. The Volpe Center actively supports FMCSA in several areas, one being the development and application of analytic models for the agency's motor carrier safety programs. These models enable FMCSA to judge the relative performance of each program; results provide a basis for resource allocation and budgeting decisions that optimize program effectiveness and efficiency. Based on the success of these models, the FMCSA asked Volpe to develop and implement similar models and measurement processes to the agency's hazardous materials (HM) programs. The Volpe team, led by Ms. Julie Nixon of the Motor Carrier Safety Assessment Division, includes Mr. Kevin Gay, Ms. Nancy Kennedy, Mr. John Ohman, and Mr. Don Wright of the Division, and Messrs. Kha Nguyen, Leon Parkin, and Dennis Piccolo of CASE, LLC (an onsite Volpe Center contractor).

The project involves conducting a feasibility study and developing an approach and methodology, and estimating the benefits of several safety programs focused on carriers and shippers of hazardous materials: the Compliance Review, Roadside Inspection, Traffic Enforcement, Package Inspection, Cargo Tank Facility Inspection, and Shipper Review programs. The first three programs will be studied in phases to determine the effectiveness each has in reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities. The HM Compliance Review Effectiveness Model, the first to be developed, was implemented and published in July 2004; the analysis will be updated and published on an annual basis. The HM Intervention Model, which estimates the effectiveness of Roadside Inspections and Traffic Enforcements conducted on HM carriers, will be developed in the first half of FY05. The remaining three programs will be studied to determine the effectiveness each has in reducing enroute incidents (i.e., hazardous materials spills) and incidents that occur during the loading and unloading processes.

The Division also supports FMCSA in developing, deploying, and maintaining Web-based information sources; conducting statistical analysis; and performing safety fitness assessments.

Working Group Updates Rail Switching Safety Findings (FRA)

Each year, on average 10 rail employees are killed and 135 are severely injured in switching operations. The Switching Operations Fatalities Analysis (SOFA) Working Group (SWG) was formed in 1998 to bring together stakeholders from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the railroad industry, and labor organizations to determine the causes of these events and to make preventative recommendations. The SWG regularly issues safety information directed at employees engaged in switching operations. The Volpe Center has contributed to the SWG since its inception.

In October 1999, SWG issued the SOFA Report: Findings and Recommendations of the SOFA Working Group, in which five safety recommendations were made to the industry. The recommendations focus on 1) improved communication among crew members, 2) regular job briefings on the nature of work, 3) discussions of safety issues, 4) minimum distance guidelines for certain types of equipment moves, and 5) mentoring of inexperienced employees.

Since that time, SWG has undertaken many activities directed toward its goal of Zero Switching Fatalities. In August 2004, the group issued an update to the SOFA Report, which describes its recent work, provides updated information on the number and type of switching fatalities occurring since the release of the SOFA Report, and discusses how fatalities occur and can be prevented. (See http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/102 for safety information and SOFA publications.)

Also in August, Mr. David Skinner of Volpe's Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division spoke at the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen's Meeting in Kalispell, Montana, as a SOFA member and on behalf of the FRA. Mr. Skinner discussed the history of switching operations fatalities, the SOFA recommendations, and the updated SOFA report. The SOFA Working Group is composed of representatives from the FRA, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, the Association of American Railroads, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the United Transportation Union, and the Volpe Center.

Outstanding Technical Papers in Crash Avoidance Research (NHTSA)

Three publications by Volpe Center technical staff, prepared on behalf of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), have been judged by a panel of engineering experts to be among the most outstanding technical papers submitted to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in 2003. These papers appear in the SAE Journal of Passenger Cars -- Electronic and Electrical Systems, published in September 2004. Dr. Wassim Najm and Mr. Andy Lam of the Advanced Safety Technology Division co-authored "Analysis of Braking and Steering Performance in Car-Following Scenarios" (SAE paper 2003-01-0283). Find this paper at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-12/SAE2003-01-0283.pdf. Dr. Najm and Mr. Jonathan Koopmann, also of the Division, co-authored "Characterizing the Capability of a Rear-End Crash Avoidance System" (SAE paper 2003-01-2262) and "Identification of Traffic States from Onboard Vehicle Sensors" (SAE paper 2003-01-0535). These papers resulted from the Volpe Center's research, on behalf of NHTSA's Office of Advanced Vehicle Safety Research, to assess the safety effectiveness of an automotive rear-end crash avoidance system built by General Motors and Delphi Electronics.

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