Strategies for Deterring Trespassing on Rail Transit and Commuter Rail Rights-of-Way, Volume 1: Guidebook (2022)

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1   A great risk facing the rail transit and commuter rail industries is the continuing problem with trespassing incidents occurring on systems throughout the United States. Trespassers are at great risk of being struck and fatally injured or severely hurt while on the rights- of-way. Trespassers gain access to the rail right-of-way for several reasons, such as taking shortcuts, retrieving dropped items, or intending self-harm, at a wide array of locations on the rail network. Rail transit and commuter rail agencies conduct safety reviews that pro- actively identify and address safety concerns and have deployed a variety of techniques and treatments to address the trespasser issue. These agencies strive to deploy these strategies while ensuring resources are applied effectively to mitigate risks. Research Objective This guidebook is intended to provide information on strategies to deter trespassing on rail transit and commuter rail exclusive and semi-exclusive rights-of-way, including within station areas outside designated pedestrian crossings. In general, trespassing is accessing rail transit and commuter rail restricted areas without permission or proper authorization, inten- tionally or unintentionally. The guidebook documents the extent of trespassing in the United States; existing decision-making guidance that agencies can utilize; causes, consequences, and risks associated with trespassing; mitigation countermeasures to reduce trespassing risks; and tools that agencies can utilize to identify possible mitigation strategies for a particular trespass- ing problem or concern. Trespassing Fatalities and Injuries The two primary sources of information regarding trespasser-related fatalities and injuries are the FTA National Transit Database (NTD) for rail transit systems and the FRA Office of Safety Analysis for commuter rail systems. The NTD indicates that over the 2015–2019 5-year period, there were 77 pedestrian fatalities and 188 pedestrian injuries on light and heavy rail systems. Light rail accounted for 81% of fatalities and 86% of injuries. The NTD also reports over the 5-year period, there were 343 fatalities and 442 injuries on light and heavy rail systems for reported suicide attempts. The FRA data for commuter rail trespassing for the 5-year period reports 423 fatalities and 289 injuries. S U M M A R Y Strategies for Deterring Trespassing on Rail Transit and Commuter Rail Rights-of-Way, Volume 1: Guidebook

2 Strategies for Deterring Trespassing on Rail Transit and Commuter Rail Rights-of-Way Decision-Making Guidance This guidebook gathers existing guidance associated with determining hazards and implementation strategies. Several FTA regulations and guides detail managing system- wide risks, including regulations requiring operators to develop agency safety plans that address safety hazard identification, safety risk assessment, and safety risk mitigation. The FRA guidance introduces procedures for conducting railroad trespassing assessment using six steps: • Step 1. Identify the problem. • Step 2. Identify resources and stakeholders. • Step 3. Analyze the cause. • Step 4. Develop and implement trespass mitigation measures. • Step 5. Evaluate the results. • Step 6. Report and document. Similarly, the Reduction of Suicides and Trespasses on Railway Property (RESTRAIL) Problem-Solving Model consists of a six-step recommended but flexible methodology, including the following: • Step 1. Describing and understanding the problem • Step 2. Analysis of target situation • Step 3. Selection of measures • Step 4. Implementation plan • Step 5. Implementation • Step 6. Evaluation Causes, Consequences, and Risks of Trespassing This guidebook addresses measures that rail transit and commuter rail agencies can use to identify risks associated with trespassing, including identifying problem locations and monitoring and evaluating risks. It also discusses the many identified root causes of tres- passing and the significant consequences of trespassing. This guidebook identifies findings from trespass-related literature and case study discussions conducted as part of this research project. Train-pedestrian strikes cause tremendous negative impacts on family members and close associates, train drivers and other witnesses, railway companies, emergency services, recovery staff, and passengers. In particular, rail transit and commuter rail services are impacted financially by trespassing incidents as a result of delays and resource depletion— both directly through sustained damage and indirectly through opportunity costs of fore- going other investments to combat trespassing events. Applying Countermeasures to Reduce Trespass Risks This guidebook identifies and details the following 14 trespass mitigation countermea- sures, classified within three major strategy categories: • Engineering and Physical Measures – Fencing, channelization, and barriers – Landscaping – Anti-trespass guard panels

Summary 3   – Platform screen doors (PSDs) – Surveillance and detection – Lighting – Approaching train alerts – Track retrieval device • Education and Engagement – Signage – Community-based collaboration – Public and industry events and campaigns – Employee intervention training – Hope Poles • Enforcement – Law enforcement and patrol Within the discussion of each trespass mitigation countermeasure, the following sections are used: • Description provides a brief overview of the countermeasure. • Applications discusses the purpose of the countermeasure, target system types and locations, target root cause, and current uses at rail transit and commuter rail agencies. • Implementation discusses companion countermeasures and potential limitations and challenges during the implementation phase. • Benefits and Costs discusses identified effectiveness, costs, and benefit-cost tradeoffs of using the countermeasures. • Best Practices and Lessons Learned provides new findings and lessons learned during case studies that were not found during the literature review. • Ease of Implementation discusses the ease of implementation considering costs, main- tenance, and administrative activities. This guidebook contains a matrix summary of the countermeasure strategies in Appendix A. Making the Case for Implementation This guidebook presents guidance on “making the case” for the investment in safety solu- tions to prevent trespassing to agencies’ governing authority for budget/policy approval. The reality for rail transit and commuter rail agencies is that a detailed, fact-based benefit- cost analysis is not feasible given the available data for many of the countermeasure strate- gies. Therefore, leadership needs to be equipped with information on what the available countermeasures are and how they can be implemented while also balancing the other com- peting needs of the agency. Each agency has unique policies, programs, characteristics, needs, and sensitivities. The trespassing problems and concerns faced by these agencies are also unique, and they often occur outside the agency’s rights-of-way. Making the case for choosing a mitigation strat- egy requires rail transit and commuter rail agencies to address the competing demands on limited funds. They need the ability to address decision-makers with critical information about possible mitigating strategies and the expected effectiveness of these strategies for the target problem. This guidebook groups the mitigation strategies into four tiers by ease of implementa- tion. Some easy-to-implement, low-cost approaches can be employed to address the identi- fied problem. In addition, there are more complex strategies to trespassing problems that

4 Strategies for Deterring Trespassing on Rail Transit and Commuter Rail Rights-of-Way should not be overlooked despite potentially requiring more partner cooperation, longer lead times, and higher costs than other strategies. • Tier 1. These strategies are easiest and fastest to implement at low operating and capital costs: – Track retrieval device – Signage – Hope Poles • Tier 2. These strategies are easiest to implement but typically involve some operating costs or coordination with outside entities (often administrative): – Community-based collaboration – Public and industry events and campaigns – Employee intervention training – Law enforcement and patrol • Tier 3. These strategies require a longer lead time and typically involve higher operating costs and capital costs: – Fencing, channelization, and barriers – Landscaping – Anti-trespass guard panels – Lighting • Tier 4. These strategies require complex implementation, and they have the highest costs and complex maintenance activities: – PSDs (typically considered for heavy rail only) – Surveillance and detection – Approaching train alerts The ease-of-implementation groupings could be used as a standalone decision-support tool or as part of a more comprehensive evaluation tool that would also consider the problem location, type of trespassing, and root cause of the trespassing problem. This guidebook includes two tools—a matrix and a spreadsheet—to assist practitioners in selecting from a range of trespass mitigation strategies for an identified trespassing problem or concern. The matrix summarizes all the countermeasures into a single table for quick review. It contains fields with categorized evaluation criteria, along with several descriptive fields, including a summary of the benefit-cost tradeoffs. It allows for the identification of countermeasures pertinent to current trespassing mitigation needs. The spreadsheet tool is a standalone Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet that contains the same criteria as the matrix but allows for active narrowing of the menu of countermeasure strategies through the selection of categories based on the identified trespassing problem or concern. The spreadsheet is available on the National Academies Press website (www.nap.edu) by searching for TCRP Research Report 233: Strategies for Deterring Trespassing on Rail Transit and Commuter Rail Rights-of-Way. Appendix B in the guidebook contains instructions for using the interactive spreadsheet. These tools include evaluation criteria that offer categories to select based on the identified trespassing problem or concern. Used to narrow the menu of countermeasure strategies, the evaluation criteria are as follows: • Rail System Type. This criterion identifies the rail transit systems likely impacted by the identified trespassing activity. These include the three rail transit system types covered in this study: commuter rail, light rail, and heavy rail. • Problem Locations. This criterion classifies the locations of the trespassing issue into four categories: – Rights-of-way. Trespassing along or across rail rights-of-way, including at-grade crossings and bridges

Summary 5   – Equipment and maintenance yards. Trespassing into or along restricted yard areas – Stations and platforms. Trespassing in and around stations and platforms – Non-specific locations. Trespassing at non-specific or various locations • Types of Trespassing Addressed. This criterion identifies, where possible, whether the problems are trespassing or suicide-related. • Target Root Cause. This criterion identifies the root causes of the trespassing issues. Root causes are divided into five categories, plus an Other category: – Living/loitering in the right-of-way. Increasing risk of trespass by presence in or near the rail right-of-way for any number of reasons, which exclude self-harm and criminal behavior but may be made worse by inattention, substance abuse, mental health, and living in the area – Self-harm intent. Accessing the rail system with the intent of doing self-harm – Shortcut/route convenience. Accessing the rail system for convenience, lack of aware- ness, risk-taking, or poor community planning – Criminal behavior. Accessing the rail system with the intent of committing criminal behavior, such as vandalism, theft, and risk-seeking – Lost/dropped items. Accessing the rail system to retrieve lost or dropped items – Other. Accessing the rail system due to recreational or seasonal activities, such as hiking; unintended trespassing, such as falls; or other causes • Ease of Implementation. Some strategies are easier to implement than others. Following are descriptions of the four ease-of-implementation tiers: – Tier 1. These strategies are the easiest and fastest to implement at low operating and capital costs. They offer effective solutions for trespassing issues at specific locations. – Tier 2. These strategies are easiest to implement but typically involve some operating costs or coordination with outside entities (often administrative). They are relatively easy to implement but require more coordination and operating costs. They offer both short-term and long-term benefits. – Tier 3. These strategies require a longer lead time and typically involve higher operating costs and capital costs. – Tier 4. These strategies require complex implementation, and they have the highest costs and complex maintenance activities. They are the most complex strategies in terms of both implementation and costs.