ROA Vetting Form 1

Proactive Disclosure

On March 20, 2015, the DOT Chief Counsel, Kathryn B. Thompson, and DOT CIO Richard McKinney issued the Memorandum on Developing a Systematic Approach for Increasing the Public Availability of Information about Agency Operations.

This required all Operating Administrations (OAs),...

Efficient Environmental Reviews for Project Decisionmaking (Section 1304) Questions and Answers

FRA, in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, developed 20 Qs & As that highlight amendments to 23 U.S.C. 139, Efficient Environmental Reviews for Project Decisionmaking, made by section 1304 of the FAST Act. These amendments became...

Broad Agency Announcement

FRA’s Office of Research, Development, and Technology (RD&T) is dedicated to conducting research that improves railroad safety, promotes innovation, and supports national rail transportation policy. These efforts further U.S. Department of Transportation Strategic Goals, FRA’s mission, and...

Research and Development Funding

Stable funding from Congress enhances the effectiveness of FRA's Research, Development & Technology (RD&T) program, now housed within the Office of Research, Data and Innovation (RDI). This funding enables multi-year projects, investments in test facilities and equipment like...

Positive Train Control (PTC) Testing & Evaluation

As pointed out in the section "PTC Analyses," “validation and verification” is a key requirement as part of a Product Safety Plan (PSP). Validation involves several analyses that have been outlined in that section; verification involves data collection, performance evaluation and product...

Incremental Train Control System

Incremental Train Control System (ITCS), developed by General Electric Transportation Systems (GETS), is a communication-based signaling system overlaid on an existing signal system. This is one class of PTC that was designed to prevent train collisions and overspeed derailments. FRA, Amtrak and...

Positive Train Control (PTC) Analyses

The regulatory requirements to establish the standards for development and use of processor-based signal and train control systems are described in 49 CFR Part 236, Subpart H. This subpart, adopted on March 7, 2005, along with amendments to 49 CFR Parts 209 and 234, prescribes minimum,...

Positive Train Control (PTC) Development

Since 2001, the efforts to deploy PTC on various railroads have accelerated. These deployments mostly started with development specific to the territory and the type of service the system would be installed to operate on (e.g., passenger service). These systems also vary in their implementations...

Positive Train Control (PTC) Information (R&D)

Positive Train Control (PTC) systems are integrated command, control, communications, and information systems for controlling train movements with safety, security, precision, and efficiency.  The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) mandated that PTC be implemented across...