An Assessment of Heavy Vehicle Safety at Level Crossing Using Petri Nets: South Australia Case Studies

Abstract

In Australia, level crossing safety has been a major concern to road and rail authorities. This paper considers the issues related to heavy vehicles safety at level crossings. The aim of the paper is to introduce Petri nets—a graphical and mathematical modelling tool in assessing the scale of risk at level crossings when heavy vehicles passing through intersecting areas. The Petri nets tool, ∏-tool is used to establish the model which is tested using different heavy vehicle percentages on selected level crossing locations in South Australia. The results demonstrated factors such as traffic level of service (LOS), heavy vehicle percentages and the distance of the level crossings to or from the nearest intersection are associated with an increased risk when a heavy vehicle being involved in level crossing collisions. The Petri nets and ∏-tool appear to be suitable for assessing the safety and performance of level crossings.