Hearken to an audio model of this story:
For a lot of San Antonio drivers, getting caught behind a practice isn’t a matter of if — however when. With roughly 500 street-level railroad crossings throughout town, passing or stalled trains can carry site visitors to a standstill with little warning.
Metropolis officers are actually seeking to change that, advancing a proposal by way of the Governance Committee on Wednesday, to review the feasibility of a real-time notification system that may alert drivers when trains are approaching or blocking crossings — probably by way of navigation apps like Waze, Apple and Google Maps.
The proposal, filed by District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, directs metropolis workers to discover partnerships with rail operators, navigation platforms and expertise companies, in addition to the usage of sensors or different detection techniques.
“I get stopped by trains on a regular basis and I ponder what would make this simpler for me?” McKee-Rodriguez mentioned. ”And so I used to be pondering, I want my GPS would inform me {that a} practice was both on its means or would cease someplace, then I’d have prevented coming this manner and I do know that’s the story so many different individuals have.”
Past inconvenience for drivers, blocked crossings can even create public security challenges when emergency automobiles are unable to move by way of intersections when responding to calls.
“In the event that they get caught there they should then route that decision to a distinct station,” McKee-Rodriguez mentioned. “Ensuring that everybody has entry to this info, together with our public security departments, I feel shall be a very worthwhile trigger.”
Whereas rail grade separation initiatives — utilizing overpasses or underpasses to maneuver crossings off avenue stage — have been accomplished throughout town or are underway, McKee-Rodriguez mentioned their value and scale make them tough to implement broadly.
A current Texas Division of Transportation estimate locations the price of elevating a crossing at Zarzamora Road and Frio Metropolis Highway at $65.7 million.
“We simply realistically don’t have the sources or alternatives to try this at each railroad within the metropolis,” McKee-Rodriguez mentioned.
Whereas some crossings are related to town’s site visitors sign system to detect practice exercise by way of a partnership with rail operators, Public Works Director Artwork Reinhardt mentioned these account for lower than 10% of crossings citywide.
“We are able to detect practice exercise that may converse to our site visitors sign system and modify how the sign system operates,” Reinhardt mentioned. “It could actually probably give prolonged inexperienced occasions to clear the crossing to stop individuals from being caught on the crossing, or additionally prohibit sure actions to guard individuals from coming into into the crossing.”
Reinhardt mentioned creating a real-time notification system would require coordination with rail firms, which management a lot of the information associated to coach motion.
Rail operators could also be reluctant to share real-time practice location knowledge attributable to safety issues, together with the transport of delicate or hazardous supplies, Reinhardt mentioned.
Due to these limitations, town could have to deal with solely detecting whether or not a crossing is blocked fairly than monitoring trains instantly.
Reinhardt mentioned there are additionally value and authorized concerns that may have to be evaluated as a part of the research, together with potential funding for tools, software program and ongoing upkeep, in addition to legal responsibility issues if the system fails to supply correct info.
The proposal requires figuring out potential pilot areas at high-impact crossings, notably these with frequent blockages or close to emergency response routes, and creating efficiency metrics to measure effectiveness.
Metropolis workers will now research the proposal’s feasibility and are anticipated to carry suggestions, together with potential prices and partnerships, to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at a later date.
