Multimodal Cooperative ITS Safety System at Level-Crossings*

Abstract

Safety al Level crossing (LC) is a minor issue for the road sector since it represents less than 1% of the accident mortality, but it is highly important for the railway sector, which accounts for thousands of accidents and collisions every year. In total, more than 500 causalities occur every year in the surroundings of LCs in the United States and the European Union Member States combined. This paper presents a multimodal cooperative safety system to alert about the vicinity of a LC and, if any, an approaching train. The system processes spatial data of trains and private nearby LCs and generate alerts about the presence of a nearby LC and the estimated time of arrival for approaching trains. The system was tested in the LCs of Thessaloniki by professional taxi drivers during a 12month period. Qualitative analyses indicate positive acceptance by the drivers as well strong perception of reliability and safety impact of the system.