# Presentation: 411760

## FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION’S (FRA’S) 

**FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION’S (FRA’S) **
**RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PROJECT**
**EVALUATION AND INVESTMENT **
**ANALYSIS**
**Estimating the Benefits of Government–Sponsored Energy**
**R & D Conference**
**March 4-5, 2002 **

**Robert C. Ricci**
**Director, Office of  Safety and Security**
**Volpe Center**
**Research and Special Programs **
**Administration**
**Cambridge, MA    **

## Overview

**Overview**

**Mission of FRA’s R&D Office**
**Purpose of FRA’s R&D Project Evaluation/Inv. Analysis Project**
**Types of Benefits**
**Five Step Process in Project Selection**
**Status**

## Mission of FRA’s Office of Research and Development

**Mission of FRA’s Office of Research and** **Development**

**To conduct research, development, test and evaluation projects to support the FRA’s Safety Mission and to Enhance the Railroad System as a Natural Transportation Resource**

## Develop explicit rationale for FRA R&D project selection and program development
Assess FRA R&D program and relationship with strategic focus on safety

**Assess FRA R&D program and relationship with strategic focus on safety**

**PURPOSE OF EFFORT**

## BENEFITS

**BENEFITS**

**REDUCTION IN  COST OF:**
**FATALITIES****	****	****	****$2.7 Million**
**INJURIES****	****	****	****$271K**
**PROPERTY DAMAGE****	****$’s As Reported**

## RELATING HARM TO FRA R&D PROGRAM

- Project Summaries
- Project Ratings

- Program Area
-  1

**2. Conduct Failure Analysis**

- Passenger Ops

- Freight Ops

- Highway-Rail

- Trespassers

- Yard & Term Ops

- HAZMAT

- Other Countermeasures

- Program Area
- 2

- Program Area
-  10

- Countermeasures
- Requiring FRA R&D
- (Projects)

**RELATING HARM TO FRA R&D PROGRAM**

**3. Survey Government and Industry Countermeasures and R&D Requirements**

**4. Develop and Rate Individual Projects**

**5. Select Projects - Assign to Program Areas**

## RELATING HARM TO FRA R&D PROGRAM: 

**1. Review Rail Industry Historical and Potential Harm**

**Include accident/incident causal data from all available data bases**
**Review FRA and NTSB accident reports for detailed causal data and for causes of hazards**
**Consider railroad industry trends for potential additional sources of hazards**

## RELATING HARM TO FRA R&D PROGRAM: 

**2. Conduct Failure Analysis**

**Use fault-tree logic to expose multiple causes of harm**
**Consider causes of harm along with causes of accidents **
**Consider current regulatory and industry situation to propose countermeasures **
**Consider low-frequency, high-consequence events**

## RELATING HARM TO FRA R&D PROGRAM: 

**RELATING HARM TO FRA R&D PROGRAM: **
**3. Survey Government and Industry Countermeasures**
**    ****and R&D Requirements.**

**Review current and potential industry and government countermeasures:**
**Regulation**
**Industry standards and best practices**
**Equipment and infrastructure improvements**
**Enforcement**
**Education**
**Develop potential R&D topics: Consider countermeasures potentially enabled by R&D**

## RELATING HARM TO FRA R&D PROGRAM: 

**4. Develop and Rate Individual Projects.**

**Develop Project Summary for all potential R&D topics:**
**	****Contribution to safety**
**	****Likelihood of success**
**	****R&D project cost and leverage**
**Rate projects using above criteria**

## RELATING HARM TO FRA R&D PROGRAM: 

**RELATING HARM TO FRA R&D PROGRAM: **
**5. Select Projects - Assign to Program Areas.**

**Project selection based on relative ratings for individual projects**
**Budget requests for program areas based on cost of projects selected for the program area**

## PRESENT STATUS OF ADDITIONAL FAULT TREES: