Transporting Hazardous Materials by Rail: Identifying Feasible, Lower-Risk Routes

Federal regulations enacted in 2008 specify that railroads must determine the routings for toxic inhalation hazards, as well as for certain classes of explosives and high-level radioactive materials. These regulations require the generation of alternative routes, which are subjected to a risk assessment that considers the potential impacts on the population, the environment, landmarks, and rail operations from an accident or an act of terrorism. Any deviation from the minimum-risk route requires justification. A key challenge, therefore, is to generate routes that are cost-effective, operationally feasible and sufficiently diverse to provide substantial alternatives. These regulations have spurred the development of a complex, interrelated suite of software tools incorporating a k-alternate path algorithm, risk assessment modeling, and data archiving. This article describes the software tools.

• Record URL:
  • https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/22530
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07386826
• Authors:
  • Hunt, David
  • Friedman, David
  • Meketon, Mark
  • Van Dyke, Carl
• Publication Date: 2013-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Maps; Photos; References;
• Pagination: pp 20-21
• Serial:
  • TR News
  • Issue Number: 286
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0738-6826

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data banks; Freight trains; Freight transportation; Hazardous materials; Railroads; Regulations; Risk assessment; Routing; Shortest path algorithms; Software
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Environment; Freight Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01489845
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Aug 15 2013 9:43AM