Research Archive

Connected Vehicle Safety for Rail is a research effort designed to support the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which mandates that certain classes of railroads that carry Toxic Inhalation or Poison Inhalation (TIH/PIH) cargo have categories of track instrumented with Positive Train Control (PTC) by 2015.

The vision for the Connected Vehicle Safety for Rail is to research and demonstrate a prototype set of applications to advance the FRA’s safety goal of a reduction in fatalities, injuries, and collisions, as well as to identify a cohesive approach to fulfilling other goals such as reduction of transportation congestion. A further focus of the research is to develop a more precise understanding of the risks presented by the railroad Right of Way (ROW) and to determine how best to mitigate these risks through the application of ITS technologies.