The Federal Aviation Administration system designers and customers all recognize that electronic flight bags are sophisticated devices whose use could affect pilot performance.

Safety events in which Electronic Bags were a factor are reviewed. Relevant reports were obtained from the public aviation Safety Reporting System database and the National Transportation Safety Board accident report database.

Comparative tests were conducted to evaluate the gage restraint measurement system (GRMS) testing capabilities of a railbound GRMS vehicle, Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA's) T-6, and a hi-rail vehicle, Holland Company's TrackStar GRMS system. The test objectives were to compare the performance of the two vehicles by monitoring the testing capabilities over the same section of track; evaluate repeatability and accuracy; and assess comparative vehicle performance over known defects. The tests were conducted on track owned by Maryland Midland Railroad, classified as FRA Class 2 track....

This report describes an experiment evaluating the effects of supervisory control automation on attention allocation while operating a train. The study compared two levels of supervisory control (partial and full) to manual control, in terms of how it affects vigilance detection and situation awareness. Human performance was measured using a human-in-the-loop train simulator. To evaluate vigilance, participants were asked to detect two types of automation failures and react to obstructions on the track. Situation awareness was measured using the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique...

This document is intended to provide Congress and other decision makers with an objective appraisal of the physical conditions, operational performance, financing mechanisms, and future investment requirements of highways, bridges, and transit systems. This report offers a comprehensive, factual background to support the development and evaluation of legislative, program, and budget options at all levels of government. It also serves as a primary source of information for national and international news media, transportation associations, and industry.

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, which was signed into law in August 2005, contained several provisions focused on steam lining the environmental review process.

This report covers the theoretical development of the safety state model for railroad operations. Using data from a train control technology experiment, experimental application of the model is demonstrated. A stochastic model of system behavior is developed which is used to estimate the dynamic risk probability in a human-machine system. This model is based on a discrete Markov process model. Based on observer behavior of an existing system, the model is used to determine an instantaneous risk probability function, which is dependent on the system state.

On November 16, 1999, at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado, a test was conducted of a single rail passenger car colliding with a fixed wall at 35 mph. The car was instrumented to measure (1) the deformations of critical structural elements, (2) the vertical, lateral, and longitudinal deceleration of the carbody and trucks, and (3) displacements of suspension systems.

Every year in the United States, accidents at highway-railroad grade crossings take place where the motorist hits the side of the train at night. In a portion of these nighttime accidents, the motorist fails to see the train in the grade crossing. One proposed solution to prevent such accidents is to mount retroreflective material on the sides of rail cars to make them more conspicuous.

This report documents the results of a Cognitive Task Analysis that examined how experienced railroad dispatchers manage and schedule trains in today's environment. The objective was to understand the cognitive demands placed on railroad dispatchers and the strategies that experienced dispatchers have developed in response to those demands, as an input to guide development and design of digital communication systems and advanced information displays. A hybrid methodology was used that combined field observations at two railroad dispatch centers (one that primarily handles passenger trains and...