ABSTRACT
Almost every driver who has come across a railroad crossing and has had to wait for the train to pass has probably wondered to themselves: what if they had been warned of the oncoming train? If they had known about it blocking their path, would they have gone another way? Since not every railroad crossing has an overpass to allow trafŽc to freely pass, trafŽc can get backed up during busy times causing potential delays. With a warning system somewhere along their route, drivers will be able to take alternate routes and potentially save time. Several issues can result from a trafŽc buildup with safety being the largest. The Southwest Research Institute recently presented the Texas Department of Transportation TransGuide with a system design document that looked right into the heart of the subject matter. The system is called Advance Warning to Avoid Railroad Delays (AWARD). This system would notify oncoming trafŽc of an oncoming train and that they would need to take an alternate route to avoid this train or expect a delay waiting for the train to pass.
