Materials and Components

FRA will continue to support the development of rail steels that are more resistant to defect formation under repeated loading from train traffic. Studies in this area will focus on factors which control rail life and performance, including growth of...

Inspection Techniques

This effort is aimed at producing better and faster methods for detecting internal rail and joint bar defects and developing automated methods for better and more consistent interpretation of rail defect measurement data. Plans include expansion of a Rail Defect Test...

Track Research Overview

Track and infrastructure failure is the second leading cause of train derailments in the U.S. Incorrect interaction between moving vehicles and the track is a common cause of derailments. Strategic priorities for this program are:

Usability Assessment

Learn how a new solution affects operator performance.

Usability evaluation may include a variety of methods to examine the extent to which a system is effective, efficient, engaging, and efficient - basically, it is an evaluation of how use-able...

Experimentation

Learn about specific topics under controlled (lab) conditions

Experiments are scientific procedures that can test a prediction (hypothesis) by manipulating a factor(s) of interest and holding everything else constant (under control).

For...

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping (RP) is a research and development process used quickly builds rough, then more refined, versions of a solution following the “spiral design” process described on the Human Systems Integration page. To build a display, for example, development team members first create a simple...

Verbal Protocol Analysis

Learn from operators they they are thinking about while performing tasks

Verbal Protocol Analysis can be used to understand how the operator perceives, operates, or uses a system, product, or space. Also known as the “think aloud” method, the researcher asks an individual to say all...

Cognitive Task Analysis

Learn about the lived experiences of operatos in actual work conditions

Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) is a family of tools and techniques to elicit, analyze, and represent cognitive aspects of performance, and the operational context in which work is conducted.  Findings from CTA...

Workload Assessment

Learn how operators percieve the amount of work they need to perform

Humans have limited attentional resources to process information. Given these limits, workload that is too high can result in performance challenges such as errors, lapses, slower response times....

Activity Analysis

Discover what activities operators perform on the job, and how often.

Activity Analysis (AA) can be used to document anything that a person does while performing a task. There are two purposes for AA: to determine the activities that occur in any situation, and how often the activities...