Use of Event Data Recorders in Rail Transit

Federal Transit Administrationhttps://doi.org/10.21949/15276392022PDFTech ReportJones, MaryClaraAssociation of American Railroads. Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Transit Administration. Office of Research, Demonstration and InnovationUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Transit AdministrationUnited StatesCrash analysisCrash investigationData analysisIncident detectionRecordingSafetyRail transitEvent data recordersFTA Report No. 0226November 2016\u2013July 2017Event Data Recorders (EDRs) are devices installed on rail vehicles to record specific data such as speed, braking commands, automatic train control information, and operator commands. This project focused on data collected from computers and sensors on board a rail vehicle; video-based EDRs were not considered in this work. The objective of the study was to gather information on current EDR standards and use and to evaluate rail transit industry needs for EDR standards and guidance. Findings of this report and subsequent guidance on standards for EDRs in rail transit can be leveraged to guide public transit agency decision-making. Some findings include the need for a common data format to view EDR data easily by agencies and NTSB investigators and for a written specification explicitly related to rail transit EDR data retention, as states currently have different data retention policies.143