RR 21-08 | April 2021

TRESPASS PREVENTION RESEARCH STUDY –

WORCESTER, MA 

SUMMARY

The U.S. Department of Transportation (US 

DOT) John A. Volpe National Transportation 

Systems Center (Volpe), under the direction of 

the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office 

of Research, Development, and Technology 

(RD&T), conducted a Trespass Prevention 

Research Study (TPRS) on a railroad right-ofway (ROW) in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Volpe researchers conducted the TPRS from 

2016–2018 to show the potential benefits of, 

document the lessons learned from, and provide 

recommendations for the implementation and 

evaluation of trespass prevention strategies 

following the Community, Analysis, Response, 

and Evaluation (CARE) model developed by 

FRA in collaboration with Transport Canada [1].

CARE’s goal is to create safer communities by 

developing long-term trespass prevention 

strategies through collaborative partnerships. 

Volpe staff worked with FRA, railroads, and local 

stakeholders to implement the CARE model on 

rail ROWs within the city. A stakeholder group 

was formed, data was collected and analyzed, 

recommendations were developed for key 

trespass areas, and the city and railroads began 

to implement those recommendations at the end 

of the study. 

Results indicated that the CARE model was an 

effective approach to railroad trespass 

prevention that engaged community 

representatives in a collaborative problemsolving effort to reduce trespass incidents. 

However, a notable weakness of the CARE 

model was its resource- and time-intensity, 

requiring committed stakeholders with the power 

and funding to implement proposed responses.

BACKGROUND

Trespassing along railroad ROWs is the leading 

cause of rail-related deaths in the U.S.; more 

than 500 trespass fatalities and nearly as many 

injuries occur each year [2]. The vast majority of 

these are preventable. By definition, trespassing 

on railroad property is illegal.

FRA, in collaboration with Transport Canada, 

developed community-based trespass 

prevention guidelines in the form of the CARE 

model published in 2012 [1]. The model is 

designed to provide a step-by step approach for 

addressing railroad trespassing issues in 

communities (Figure 1). It establishes a 

framework for stakeholders to organize, collect, 

and evaluate the data, develop solutions, and 

implement trespass mitigation strategies. It 

increases stakeholder collaboration, leverages

collective resources, and maximizes overall 

effectiveness of the community-based effort to 

decrease trespassing on railroad ROWs. 

Figure 1. CARE Model

The Volpe Center conducted the first TPRS in

2009–2013 with the goal of developing and 

demonstrating trespass prevention and 

mitigation best practices based on the CARE 

model. It focused on a 12-mile stretch of ROW in 
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RESEARCH RESULTS 2 | Page

West Palm Beach, Florida. The implementation 

and evaluation of the guidelines during that

demonstration project resulted in several 

lessons learned and recommendations for future 

implementations [3] [4]. 

In response to recommendations from the first 

study, RD&T funded an additional TPRS in 2016

to further research the feasibility and potential 

benefits of the process. 

OBJECTIVES

Researchers wanted to demonstrate the 

potential benefits, as well as best practices and 

lessons learned, of implementing and evaluating

trespass prevention strategies following the 

CARE community-based approach on the rail 

network in Worcester, Massachusetts.

METHODS

Volpe and FRA partnered with the City of 

Worcester, CSX, Providence and Worcester

Railroad (P&W), Pan Am Railways, MBTA, and 

other local organizations to form a stakeholder 

group, collect and analyze rail trespassing data, 

develop recommendations for key trespass 

areas, and work with the city and railroads to 

begin implementation of those 

recommendations. Additionally, researchers 

collected baseline data on one selected trespass 

location over an 8-month period before the 

treatments’ installation, scheduled to occur after 

the conclusion of the study. 

RESULTS

Volpe partnered with several railroad 

stakeholders and the City of Worcester to 

implement the CARE model.

Location

The City of Worcester saw two rail trespass 

fatalities and one injury from December 2012 to 

January 2016. The locations selected were 

along CSX and P&W ROWs through the city, as 

shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. City of Worcester Rail Map

CARE Model

The research team, along with FRA, worked with 

stakeholders to execute the step-by step CARE 

approach for addressing rail ROW trespassing 

issues within the city.

The first step in the CARE process (Community)

was to identify the trespassing problem, 

assemble all of the potential stakeholders, 

organize a problem-solving meeting to discuss 

the issues, and develop an action plan. This 

step was initiated in August 2016 with a kickoff 

meeting at Worcester City Hall with all identified 

stakeholders. This group then met regularly over 

the next 18 months, with the final recent meeting 

on March 28, 2018 

The second step (Analysis) involved collecting 

information about the trespassing problem and 

determining its underlying causes. Information 

was collected form the railroads and the city, as 

well as from site visits and targeted data 

collection activities. Five specific ROW locations 

were initially selected for data collection, 
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RESEARCH RESULTS 3 | Page

analysis, and intervention. Of those, the 

stakeholder group focused first on the ROW 

under the Cambridge Street bridge (Crossing ID 

501786C). Volpe staff installed a camera at that 

location and provided remote access for the 

Worcester Police Department. Video data were 

analyzed for 30-day period from 9/19/17 to 

10/18/17 to gather information on trespass event 

frequency, demographics, and purpose.

Analysis of the video data revealed a total of 115 

trespassers (95 male, 20 female) during the 30-

day period. About 60 percent of the trespassers 

were physically on the tracks, while the rest 

loitered on the ROW under the bridge. Most of 

those loitering were possibly injecting or 

smoking drugs, as evidenced by analysis of the 

video. An example of a trespass event at that 

location is shown in Figure 3. 

The third CARE step (Response) was to identify 

and implement the most effective and feasible 

responses to help solve the underlying causes 

of trespassing at all five locations. Specific to the 

Cambridge Street bridge location, a set of 

recommended strategies on engineering 

treatments, education outreach activities, and 

law enforcement actions were developed with 

the stakeholder group. Some of the 

recommendations, including continuing outreach 

to the homeless population, adding NO 

TRESPASSING signage, and increasing 

enforcement patrols, were implemented during 

the study. Other recommendations, such as 

adding fencing, were scheduled for after the 

conclusion of the study. 

Figure 3. Rail ROW Trespass Example from 

Cambridge St. Bridge Location in Worcester

The fourth step of the CARE process 

(Evaluation) involved determining if the 

response was effective in reducing or eliminating 

the trespass problem and returning to the 

Analysis step if it was not. This step was not 

reached before the conclusion of the study 

period.

CONCLUSIONS

This implementation of the CARE model

demonstrated some of its potential strengths 

and weaknesses. The CARE guidelines

provided a structure under which stakeholders 

and their resources could be effectively 

organized, as well as a process by which to 

analyze the trespass problem and its underlying 

causes, develop a set of responses, and 

evaluate their impacts. It added an additional 

layer of safety improvement through increasing 

stakeholder collaboration and leveraging 

collective resources, thereby aiming to maximize 

overall effectiveness. The process also worked 

well in creating and fostering stakeholder buy-in, 

building consensus, and facilitating the 

discussion from multiple perspectives. 

However, a notable weakness of the CARE 

model is its resource- and time-intensity, 

requiring committed stakeholders with the power 

and funding to employ proposed responses. 

Federal staff (Volpe and FRA) contributed 

heavily to the stakeholder group in all phases of 

the CARE process. However, it is not known if a 

community could take on implementing the 

CARE model on its own, where data collection, 

analysis, and implementation funding and other 

resources may be severely limited. 

FUTURE ACTION

FRA continues to provide support to the City of 

Worcester in this area and will analyze the 

effectiveness of implemented interventions and 

disseminate findings to rail safety stakeholders. 

Lessons learned from the study will also be 

applied to identify the appropriate circumstances 

where community-based interventions are

warranted and likely to be effective.
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RESEARCH RESULTS 4 | Page

REFERENCES 

[1] FRA Office of Railroad Safety. (2011). 

Community Trespassing Prevention Guide. 

[2] FRA Office of Safety Analysis. (June 2018). 

https://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/

[3] FRA. (July 2014). Trespass Prevention 

Research Study – West Palm Beach, FL

[DOT/FRA/ORD-14/19].

[4] FRA. (June 2015). Evaluation of FRA 

Trespass Prevention Research Study [RR 15-

21].

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

This work was performed under interagency 

agreements between the FRA’s Train Control 

and Communication Division and the Volpe 

National Transportation Systems Center’s 

Systems Safety and Engineering Division. The 

author wishes to acknowledge the City of 

Worcester and its various departments, CSX, 

P&W, Pan Am, and MBTA – all of which 

provided support essential to this research.

CONTACT

Francesco Bedini Jacobini

Program Manager

Federal Railroad Administration

Office of Research, Development, and 

Technology

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

(202) 493-0800

Francesco.Bedini@dot.gov

Marco da Silva

Senior Engineer

Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Systems Safety and Engineering Division

55 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02142

(617) 494-2246

marco.dasilva@dot.gov

KEYWORDS

Railroad trespassing, trespass prevention, rightof-way trespass, railroad safety, stakeholder 

engagement