CHANGES IN RAILROAD TRACK ACCIDENT RATES

Railroad track accident rates declined substantially since railroads underwent economic deregulation in 1980. The decline has been attributed to any of several factors including more stringent safety regulations, increased investment in physical plant, improved "safety culture" of firms, and improved technology. This paper assesses the significance of each of these factors to the decline in railroad track accident rates for the period 1983-1994. The analysis applies a production function methodology commonly used to assess the efficacy of public investment. The analysis indicates that Federal regulation, whether measured by defect rates, violation rates, or inspection rates, had a statistically insignificant effect on the rate of track accidents. Railroad investment in track had a statistically significant effect on the decline in track accidents. Improved track technology also has a significant effect on the decline in track accidents. Lastly, there appears to be no statistically significant differences in the rate of change in track accident rates among firms given the level of other inputs.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was also published in the Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Vol. 56, No. 4, Fall 2002.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Forum

  One Farragut Square South, Suite 500
  Washington, DC  United States  20006-4003
• Authors:
  • Dennis, Scott M
• Conference:
  • Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Forum
  • Location: Annapolis, Maryland
  • Date: 2000-11-29 to 2000-12-1
• Publication Date: 2000

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 620

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash records; Investments; Public relations; Railroad crashes; Railroad rails; Railroad tracks; Safety; Track laying
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00804798
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 11 2002 12:00AM