Citation

Vivek AK, Mohapatra SS, Jena S. Transp. Policy 2022; 122: 64-76.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.tranpol.2022.04.013

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Acquiring a clear insight into road users' perception of level of service (LOS) at rail road grade crossings (RRGCs) can be beneficial for the development of strategies for creating a safe and comfortable commuting environment for road users. This study examines road users' (pedestrians, bicyclists, motorized two-wheelers, motorized three-wheelers, cars, and commercial vehicles) perceptions and elicits the impact of LOS on the identified factors. In this context, initially, a pilot survey was carried out at RRGCs, but road users' low participation response rate reflected the infeasibility of conducting the survey at RRGCs. Therefore, an extensive survey was conducted in the residential areas, shopping areas, and fuel stations in the vicinity of 21 RRGCs from nine different Indian states, and 7588 responses were collected. First, importance-satisfaction (IS) analysis is carried out to figure out the most important and satisfying factors perceived by road users. The results of the IS analysis reveal that out of the total considered variables, seven variables, namely gate blockage time before the train arrives (BBT), followed by crossing surface quality (CSQ), lateral visibility (LV), road width (RW), gate blockage time after the train departs (BAT), presence of heavy vehicles (PHV), and road marking and warning signs (MWS), are in need of immediate improvement. Subsequently, an ordered probit model is developed to examine the influence of factors over perceived LOS. The ordered probit model results demonstrate that LOS at RRGCs deteriorates with an increase in perception-related factors like BBT, time taken by train to cross the RRGC (TCT), BAT, distance between the gates (DBG), PHV, and presence of pedestrians (PP). On the other hand, RW, CSQ, LV, MWS, and aesthetics (AES) positively impact perceived LOS, signifying that increasing these variables improves perceived LOS. Moreover, age, trip type, trip duration, and trip frequency are among the socio-demographic and trip-related characteristics that have been found to have a considerable impact on perceived LOS. Hence, our research presents the policy tools that planners and policymakers could utilize to enhance the operational performance of RRGCs.

Language: en

Keywords

Importance-satisfaction analysis; Level of service; Ordered probit model; Rail road grade crossings; Road users' perception