September 23, 2019 3:30 a.m.
On Friday, Congressman Peter DeFazio along with Representative Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, sent a letter to 12 tech companies to incorporate rail crossing data into their navigation services, applications and devices that can help prevent accidents at highway-railroad at-grade crossings.
DeFazio is the Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure while Lipinski chairs the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee.
The letter said that accidents at highway-railroad at-grade crossings have taken a tremendous human toll throughout the decades, in both small and large communities across the country. It said no amount of data will fully eliminate grade crossing accidents, but simple steps could help avoid numerous crashes and too many injuries.
The release from DeFazio said that following a 2015 Metrolink train derailment in Oxnard, California, the National Transportation Safety Board alerted 14 companies to its recommendation that highway-railroad at-grade crossing geographic data can be incorporated into their navigation services, applications and devices. Nearly three years later, the NTSB has closed its recommendation for only two of those companies. Friday’s letter seeks information about what the remaining companies have done or what action they plan to take.
The release said that properly implementing the NTSB’s recommendation would have noticeable positive impacts on safety.
The list of companies receiving the letter are posted with the story at www.541radio.com.
*Apple, Google, HERE, INRIX, MapQuest, Microsoft, Omnitracs, OpenStreetMap, Sensys Networks, StreetLight Data, Teletrac Navman, and United Parcel Service