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Title page 1

Contents 3

Highlights 2

Letter 6

Background 9

Roles and Responsibilities for Rail Safety 9

Railway-Highway Crossings Program 11

Trends in Crossing Safety 13

States Largely Used RHCP Funding to Upgrade Safety Devices, and a Subset of States Reported Fewer Crashes at Improved Crossings 15

States Most Frequently Used RHCP Funding to Add or Upgrade Existing Warning Devices at Railway-Highway Crossings 15

Analysis of State Reports Generally Showed Zero Crashes or a Decrease in Crashes at Grade Crossings with Completed Projects 20

Stakeholders Viewed RHCP Changes as Expanding Project Flexibility but Said It Is Too Early to Assess Safety Effects 23

FHWA Offers a Range of Technical Assistance to States, but It Does Not Fully Address Issues Related to Trespassing 29

FHWA Offers Guidance, Webinars, and Other Technical Assistance to States for Improving Grade Crossing Safety 29

FHWA's Technical Assistance Has Not Fully Addressed Pedestrian Projects Related to Trespassing 30

Conclusions 33

Recommendation for Executive Action 33

Agency Comments 33

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 35

Appendix II: Selected State Priorities and Examples, Railway-Highway Crossings Program 45

Appendix III: Comments from U.S. Department of Transportation 54

Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 55

Figures 3

Figure 1. Examples of Railway-Highway Crossings Program Project Types, Before and After Improvements 12

Figure 2. Number of Accidents, Fatalities, and Injuries at Public Railway-Highway Crossings Nationwide, Calendar Years 2014 Through 2023 14

Figure 3. Number of Railway-Highway Crossings Program Projects That States Annually Reported, by Project Type, 2019 Through 2023 17

Figure 4. Examples of Planned and Completed Pedestrian Safety Improvements at Two Grade Crossings 18

Figure 5. Example of a Railway-Highway Crossings Program Project That Upgraded Warning Devices at a Grade Crossing 19

Figure 6. Number of Railway-Highway Crossings Program Projects, by Change in Crashes after a Completed Project Reported by a Subset of States, 2019 Through 2023 21

Figure 7. Number of Crashes Before and After the Completion of Railway-Highway Crossings Program Projects, Reported by a Subset of States, 2019 Through 2023 22

Figure 8. A Humped Grade Crossing in Trent, Texas, Prioritized for Railway-Highway Crossings Program Funded Safety Improvements 26

Figure 9. Completed Railway-Highway Crossing Program Project in Alabama That Installed Delineators at Two Different Grade Crossings 46

Figure 10. Completed Railway-Highway Crossings Program Project on Bacon's Road in Laurel, Delaware, That Upgraded Signals, Gates, and Lights... 47

Figure 11. Completed Railway-Highway Crossings Program Project in Palm Beach County, Florida, That Upgraded Signals, Gates, and Lights... 49

Figure 12. Completed Railway-Highway Crossings Program Project in Seymour, Indiana, That Added Gates and Flashing Lights on the Sides of the Roadway... 50

Figure 13. Planned and In-Progress Texas Department of Transportation Railway-Highway Crossings Program Projects That Will Make Device Upgrades... 52

Appendix Tables 3

Table 1. List of Federal Entities Interviewed by GAO 36

Table 2. List of Nonfederal Entities Interviewed by GAO 37

Table 3. Date Ranges Used by States to Report Current RHCP Projects, Fiscal Year 2023 40

Table 4. GAO Categories of Project Types and Crossing Types, Railway-Highway Crossings Program 41