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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in its
3 Interim Final Rule for the Use of Horns at Highway-Rail
4 Crossings, using the conclusions of a statistical study by the
5 research corporation Westat, Inc., implies that the collision
6 risk at gated crossings in Northeastern Illinois where the
7 train horn is not routinely sounded is 17.3% higher than gated
8 crossings in the continental United States where the horn is
9 sounded, and due to this factor, municipalities that want to
10 maintain existing quiet crossings will have to invest in
11 expensive supplemental safety measures to lower the risk to
12 make up for the implied 17.3% differential that results from
13 routine horn blowing, meaning that the total cost will likely
14 exceed $10 million to maintain the existing quiet; and
 
15     WHEREAS, The FRA admits, however, that the Westat results
16 are not statistically significant at a conventional level (the
17 result of having only a 69% confidence level, or a nearly one
18 in three chance of not being relevant), bearing out the
19 "puzzling Chicago anomaly" described in an FRA study in 2000;
20 and
 
21     WHEREAS, A team of statistical experts from TransInfo LLC
22 and the University of Illinois at Chicago, contracted to
23 conduct an analysis of the Westat study, analyzed the Westat
24 risk assessment data and procedures and confirmed that,
25 according to the standard principles used in statistical
26 inference, the FRA/Westat conclusions were not statistically
27 significant, and TransInfo/UIC offered a variation of the
28 Westat model that produced statistically significant results,
29 determining that a more likely estimate of the risk of a
30 collision at an existing quiet crossing in Northeastern
31 Illinois is 26.4% lower, when compared to crossings in the
32 continental United States where the horn is blown; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, The TransInfo/UIC study concluded that "based on
2 the FRA data, there is no reason to believe that in the Chicago
3 Area banning the sounding of horns increases the chance of
4 collisions at gated public highway-rail grade crossings in
5 northeastern Illinois"; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The FRA's Interim Final Rule will force
7 municipalities to spend millions of dollars on measures at
8 quiet crossings that are sufficiently safe by the FRA's own
9 standard, and this would be a wasteful and ineffective result
10 from a flawed analysis that lacks any statistical validity and
11 would not serve to improve overall railroad crossing safety in
12 Northeastern Illinois; and
 
13     WHEREAS, The Illinois Commerce Commission worked with the
14 communities and the railroads of Northeastern Illinois in
15 determining where it was appropriate to excuse the routine
16 blowing of the horns, every quiet crossing has been equipped
17 with a minimum level of active safety equipment, every quiet
18 crossing has to maintain an acceptable safety record or ICC
19 will rescind the excusal until appropriate safety measures are
20 put into place, and the ICC, railroads, and communities have
21 invested a significant amount of resources in addressing the
22 highest risk crossings with the appropriate safety measures
23 necessary to reduce the risk of future collisions; and
 
24     WHEREAS, A focus on education programs such as Operation
25 Lifesaver has supplemented those efforts of the ICC, the
26 communities, and the railroads, and this combination of factors
27 is perhaps the most likely reason behind the FRA's
28 self-described "puzzling Chicago anomaly" and provides a model
29 on which to build a common sense alternative to the FRA's
30 Interim Final Rule; and
 
31     WHEREAS, The statutory mandate behind the Interim Final
32 Rule provides that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation may

 

 

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1 except from the horn-sounding requirement "any categories of
2 rail operations or categories of highway-rail grade
3 crossings....that the Secretary determines not to present a
4 significant risk with respect to loss of life or serious
5 personal injury"; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Northeastern Illinois as a whole appears to
7 present a category of highway-rail grade crossings that must be
8 considered by the regulations as allowed for under the
9 Secretary of Transportation's exception: a region with a
10 significant concentration of existing quiet crossings overseen
11 by a State program where the statistical risk of collisions at
12 crossings where the locomotive horn is not routinely sounded is
13 no greater than if the locomotive horn is routinely sounded,
14 and this categorical exception could apply to other regions
15 that are similarly situated; and
 
16     WHEREAS, An alternative crossing safety program for
17 Northeastern Illinois would include the following elements:
18 delegation to an appropriate State of the authority to
19 implement and manage the regional program allowed under the
20 Secretary of Transportation's exception; retention by the FRA
21 of oversight of this program, with the FRA responsible for
22 monitoring the program's effectiveness; retention by the FRA of
23 authority to recommend adjustments if the program is determined
24 to have a detrimental impact on crossing safety; State agency
25 supervision of the creation of any quiet zone; delegation to
26 the appropriate State agency of authority to establish
27 acceptable safety thresholds, designate quiet zone status, and
28 enforce quiet zones, including the authority to enforce
29 railroad compliance with the quiet zone; input from the
30 railroads, affected agencies, public authorities, and
31 municipal officials in determining the establishment of a quiet
32 zone; adequate warning signs at all quet zone crossings; a
33 requirement that all crossings within a quiet zone demonstrate
34 a proven safety record, as defined by an acceptable relevant

 

 

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1 collision experience, such as the current ICC standard of no
2 more than three relevant collisions over a five year period;
3 limitations on the creation of individual quiet crossings; and
4 a public service campaign to educate motorists and pedestrians
5 as to the consequences of unsafe behavior at railroad crossings
6 and to warn them that trains will not routinely sound horns as
7 they approach crossings; and
 
8     WHEREAS, The FRA apparently has already established
9 precedence for allowing the regional exception approach,
10 having provided a separate treatment to the Florida communities
11 impacted by Emergency Order 15, allowing them to establish
12 quiet zones prior to the publication of the Interim Final Rule;
13 therefore be it
 
14     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
16 urge the FRA to apply the Secretary of Transportation's
17 exception to the FRA Interim Final Rule to any region that
18 includes a significant concentration of existing quiet
19 crossings overseen by a State program under which the
20 statistical risk of collisions at crossings where the
21 locomotive horn is not routinely sounded is no greater than if
22 the locomotive horn is routinely sounded; and be it further
 
23     RESOLVED, That we urge application of the Secretary of
24 Transportation's exception to the FRA Interim Final Rule to
25 existing quiet crossings in Northeastern Illinois; and be it
26 further
 
27     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
28 delivered to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, to the
29 Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, and to
30 each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.