Community of Interest (R16)

The Community of Interest (COI) brings together representatives from transportation agencies, railroads, associations, AASHTO, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Federal Railroad Administration to discuss efforts to improve coordination and communication between DOTs and railroads. Through peer exchanges and webinars, the COI shares best practices, lessons learned, challenges, accomplishments, model agreements, and processes used between railroads and highway agencies nationwide.

• Community of Interest Roster April 2019

 
COI Meeting, March 5 - 6, 2019

• Meeting Summary
• DOT and Railroad Key Issues for Improved Collaboration in the Future (French Thompson, BNSF, and Connie Raezer, Washington State DOT)
• Interconnected Crossings in Wisconsin (Lisa Stern, Wisconsin DOT)
• Joint Preemption Annual Reviews (Gerald Stout, FRA)
• What's New? A Lightning Round on New Accomplishments, New Technologies, and Other Innovations
• Best Practices Related to Railroad Real Estate Easements (Troy Creasy and Sara French, CSX)
• BNSF and C/AV (French Thompson, BNSF)
• Connected and Automated Vehicles--What are they and what are the opportunities? (Brian Burkhard, PE, Advanced Mobility Systems for Jacobs Engineering Group)

COI Meeting, March 27-28, 2018, Fort Worth, TX

• Meeting Summary
• R16 Master Presentation Deck
• Federal Railroad Administration Recent Activities--Unmanned Aerial Systems (Frank Frey, FRA)
• Section 130 Program Updates (Jessica Rich, FHWA)
• Utah Department of Transportation's Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Alana Spendlove, Utah DOT)
• High-Speed Rail Development & Crossing Safety (Frank Frey, FRA)
• Positive Train Control Briefing (Frank Frey, FRA)
• Connected Vehicles Applications for Rail (Frank Frey, FRA)
• Master Agreements: Sucess and Challenges (Connie Raezer, Washington State DOT)
• Corridor Projects (Troy Creasy, CSX)
• The Piedmont Corridor (Richard Mullinax, North Carolina DOT)
• Sealed Corridor Concept--A Railroad Perspective (Stephen Klinger, Norfolk Southern)

COI Meeting, Feb. 7-8, 2017, Washington, D.C.

• Meeting Summary
• COI Overview, Goals, and SHRP2 Updates
• Project Updates from States Using Every Day Counts
  • 10 Possible Solutions to Improve Railroad Coordination (Lisa Stern, Wisconsin DOT)
  • Arizona DOT's Approach (Sayeed Hani, Arizona DOT)
  • Connecticut's Successes with Railroad-DOT Mitigation Strategies (John Bernick, Connecticut DOT)
• FHWA/FRA Updates on National Railroad Safety
  • Section 130 Overview (Kelly Morton, FHWA Office of Safety, and Jim Dahlem, FRA)
  • FAST Act State Action Plans 101 for State DOTs (Debra Chappell, FRA)

• COI Virtual Meeting, April 3, 2019
  • Meeting Notes
• Best Practices Related to Flagging Agreements, March 21, 2019
• Webinar Slides
• Improving Grade Crossing Safety Using Predictive Analytics and New Technology, November 7, 2018
• Webinar Slides
• Webinar Recording
• Railroad Signaling 101, October 18, 2018
• Webinar Slides
• Webinar Recording
• Expanding Use of Drones in the Railroad Environment, August 8, 2018
• Webinar Slides
• Webinar Transcript
• Q&A document, highlighting all webinar questions and appropriate answers to those questions from participants
• Section 130 Funding, Part II, Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, May 18, 2018
  • Webinar Recording
  • Webinar Slides
• DOT-Freight Master Agreements: Best Practices, February 15, 2018
  • Webinar Recording
  • Webinar Slides
  • Highlights:
    • Crossing Signals Master Agreements: North Carolina's Experience (Richard Mullinax, North Carolina DOT)
    • Project Review and Contract Flagging (Robert Travis, Texas DOT)
    • BNSF Railway Company Public Projects Presentation: Agency Master Agreements (Taylor Smith, BNSF)
• State and Railroad User Manuals and Training: Best Practices, September 7, 2017
  • Webinar Recording
  • Webinar Slides
  • Highlights:
    • Utah DOT's Railroad Coordination Manual of Instruction (Alana Spendlove, Utah DOT and Patty Jones, DB Consulting)
    • CSX's Process for Public Project Participation (Troy Creasy, CSX)
• FRA/FHWA Joint Webinar: Highway-Railway Grade Crossing Action Plans and Project Prioritization Noteworthy Practices, June 20, 2017 (MP4)
• Noteworthy Practices Guide (Ron Ries, FRA)
• State Action Plans (Dee Chappell, FRA)
• Q&A (Kelly Morton, FHWA)
• Getting the Most from Your Section 130 Program, May 16, 2017
  • Webinar Slides
  • Highlights:
    • Q&A with FHWA on Section 130 (Kelly Morton, FHWA Office of Safety)
    • How Michigan DOT Takes Advantage of the Section 130 Program (Kris Foondle, Michigan DOT Office of Rail)
    • The Section 130 Program from the Railroad Perspective (Stephen Klinger, Norfolk Southern Grade Crossing Program)
  • Rail-Highway Crossings (Section 130) Program References
• COI Kick-Off Webinar, September 27, 2016
  • Webinar Recording
  • Webinar Slides
  • Highlights:
    • Overview of SHRP2 and Railroad-DOT Mitigation Strategies (R16) (Pam Hutton, AASHTO and Joe Taylor, FHWA)
    • Making this your Community of Interest (Kate Kurgan, AASHTO and Sherry Appel, Appelworks)
    • DOT Perspectives (Allen Rust, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Dan Leonard, PennDOT, and Mike Loehr for the South Dakota DOT)
    • Railroad Perspectives (Sarod Dhuru, BNSF Railway, Amanda DeCesare and Troy Creasy, CSX)
• R16 Round 7 Implementation Assistance Program Webinar, March 15, 2016 (Adobe Connect)
  • Webinar Recording