MEMO / NOTE DE SERVICE

To / Destinataire From / Ex !diteur $ub%ect / #b%et

Mayor Watson, Members of Council and of the Transit Commission De uty City Mana"er, City # erations Fallo&field 'ail Crossin" ( ) date

File/N de fichier:

Date: March *+, +,*-

The ur ose of this memorandum is to ro.ide Members of Council and the Transit Commission &ith an u date on the &or/ the City has underta/en in res onse to the Trans ortation $afety 0oard obser.ations resented to the City at a Technical 0riefin" &hich too/ lace &ith the Trans ortation $afety 0oard 1T$02 on Friday, #ctober **, +,*3 and the T$0 safety ad.isory letters issued on Monday February +4, +,*-5 Council &ill recall that in the res onse to the Technical 0riefin" #bser.ations made by the T$0 on #ctober **, +,*3, the City immediately too/ the follo&in" actions: 'emo.al and trimmin" of .e"etation in the crossin"/Transit&ay area6 'educin" the s eed in both directions a roachin" the crossin" to 4, /m/hour6 and, Enhancements to the si"na"e in the crossin" area5 7n addition to this &or/, the City also undertoo/ a re.ie& of the feasibility of installin" an amber &arnin" si"nal 1a flashin" li"ht2 before the crossin" &hich may ro.ide enhanced notice and .isibility for northbound traffic5 $uch a &arnin" si"nal &ould otentially be coordinated &ith the crossin" li"ht si"nal5 With res ect to this item, 7 can ad.ise that City staff and 879 'ail are continuin" their &or/ on the ro osed si"nal and &ill be recommendin" o tions in this re"ard shortly5 #n February +4, +,*-, the T$0 issued t&o safety letters to the City5 The first letter noted that the City may &ish to ut measures in lace to ensure that buses are able to sto safely in ad.ance of an acti.ated rail&ay crossin" si"nal5 $u""ested measures included re.ie&in" the by(la& that "o.erns the o erations of .ehicles on Transit&ay, re.ie&in" otential s eed reductions, and installin" an amber early &arnin" si"nal for southbound traffic5 The second letter noted that #C Trans o, in con%unction &ith 879 'ail, may &ish to de.elo and im lement $tandard # eratin" :rocedures to ensure safe o erations &hen unusual acti.ations or malfunctions of crossin" automated rotection occur5 With res ect to these $afety ;etters issued on February +4, +,*-, 7 can ro.ide the follo&in" u dates: ;e"al $er.ices and #C Trans o staff ha.e re.ie&ed City of #tta&a Transit 0y(la& +,,<(+=>, $chedule 9, &hich currently "o.erns the o erations of .ehicles on the Transit&ay and ha.e concluded that an amendment to the 0y(la& is %ustified in order to create an offence similar to &hat is currently found in the Highway Traffic Act to rohibit .ehicles from crossin" at a rail&ay crossin" &hen a &arnin" of an a roachin" train is "i.en5 $taff are finali?in" the details and &ill brin" for&ard the a ro riate re ort1s2 and amendments in the near future6 City staff &ill conduct a com rehensi.e re.ie& of s eed limits on the Transit&ay alon" the corridor from the Ne ean $ orts lex to south of the Fallo&field $tation, includin" the a roaches to the rail&ay crossin" near Fallo&field $tation5 The re.ie& &ill consider the hysical desi"n, s eed of the road&ay, the o eratin" characteristics of #C Trans o buses, the si"ht line to traffic si"nals and rail&ay crossin"s si"nals, the reaction times of o erators to si"nals, and other hysical factors such as "radient and cur.ature of the Transit&ay5 The

re.ie& &ill follo& the best safety en"ineerin" ractices and also the ne&est draft rail&ay crossin" re"ulations ublished recently by Trans ort Canada, and &ill be conducted by @ualified en"ineers &ith assistance from City staff5 Follo&in" the com rehensi.e re.ie&, staff &ill ma/e any re@uired ad%ustments to enhance si"na"e and to im ro.e o eratin" ractices alon" the Transit&ay, and &ill &or/ &ith 879 'ail if any further issues are identified &ith the desi"n or confi"uration of the rail&ay crossin"5 With res ect to the su""estion made by the T$0 of installin" an amber early &arnin" si"nal for the southbound Transit&ay traffic, 7 can confirm that staff are conductin" the en"ineerin" re.ie& re"ardin" a southbound si"nal5 7 can also confirm that senior 8ia 'ail and City staff ha.e met to im ro.e information sharin" and to establish communications rotocols bet&een the t&o or"ani?ations5 7nte"rated and com rehensi.e rocedures are bein" finali?ed and &ill be im lemented shortly5 9s an interim measure, all arties in.ol.ed ha.e confirmed contact numbers and rocesses for notifications5 9s noted in my memorandum of February +=, +,*- to Members of Council the re.ie& of #C Trans oAs rocedures for rail crossin"s is on"oin" &ith &or/ bein" finali?ed by our external en"ineerin" firm MMM Brou 5 9n u date to the Transit Commission is ex ected for 9 ril +,*-5 7n addition to the &or/ related to the T$0, 7 &anted to ro.ide u dates on the follo&in" &or/ that is also bein" underta/en: The City recei.ed a direction from Em loyment and $ocial De.elo ment Canada 1E$DC2 in Canuary +,*- that ad.ised us that in their officerAs o inion, #C Trans o had not sufficiently identified and assessed the &or/ lace health and safety(related ha?ards at rail&ay crossin"s &here o erators are re@uired to &or/5 While all of the rail&ay crossin"s meet the a licable safety standards for desi"n and maintenance, the E$DC direction re@uires the City to assess the crossin"s in a different &ay D that is, as art of the &or/ lace for transit o erators ursuant to the Canada Labour Code5 The City has retained safety en"ineerin" consultants from MMM Brou , and their subcontractors Flood Murray 7nternational and Euman Factors North, to re.ie& this matter5 The consultants &ill assess the er"onomic considerations for transit o erators at rail&ay crossin"s and the current #C Trans o o eratin" rocedures, and define assessment methods that can be used consistently into the future5 This &or/ &ill include a re.ie& of Canadian and international best ractices, an assessment of human factors such as dri.er &or/load, and on(site hysical re.ie&s under both summer 1full folia"e2 and &inter 1bare trees2 conditions5

Follo&in" this safety en"ineerin" assessment, staff &ill arran"e for any necessary chan"es to o eratin" rocedures, bus confi"uration and road confi"uration and &ill also &or/ &ith the rail&ay com anies &ith res ect to any issues identified that are &ithin their res onsibility5

Finally, #C Trans o has ta/en additional measures &hich include:

 Written directi.es to o erators remindin" them to:

o Follo& the Highway Traffic Act and exercise safe and defensi.e dri.in" ractices6

Watch for rail&ay crossin" flashin" li"hts 1si"nals25 7f the li"hts are flashin", sto safely and &ell before the rail&ay trac/s6
o

9l&ays follo& the osted s eed limits and, &hen a roachin" the rail&ay crossin"s, slo& do&n, ho.er o.er the bra/e edal and &atch for train mo.ement in both directions of the rail&ay trac/s5 :roceed &ith caution6 and,
o

9l&ays be re ared to sto 5

Daily internal radio announcements to o erators to remind them to exercise

caution &hen a

roachin" a rail crossin", and to adhere to the osted s eed limits6

Transit $u er.isors and $ ecial Constables ha.e underta/en roacti.e s eed

monitorin", and conduct routine monitorin" of bus o erations at this and other locations5 This o eration is erformed throu"hout the year at .arious locations on our system, as art of our safety ro"ram, 7n addition #C Trans o s ecial constables &ill roacti.ely enforce s eed com liance on the Transit&ay6
'ail safety is co.ered in all Ne& 0us # erator Trainin" includin" a minimum of

three .isits to rail crossin"s6

9ll ne& bus o erators .isit the Transit&ay crossin" at Fallo&field as art of the

rail and Transit&ay trainin"6

;icensin" testin" for all o erators is sanctioned by Ministry of Trans ortation and

includes a field test o.er a rail&ay crossin" to ensure com liance &ith all re"ulations and trainin"6
The im ortance of adherin" to and bein" familiar &ith all as ects of rail crossin"

rocedures is addressed &ith o erators in all em loyee assessments6

$ ecial Constables and Fare 7ns ectors ha.e been certified to resent # eration

;ifesa.er resentations for the ublic, &hich is a rail safety education ro"ram &ith the "oal to re.ent collisions bet&een trains and motor .ehicles6
# eration ;ifesa.er, 'ail $afety # erations :ro"ram or an e@ui.alent is bein"

assessed for o erator trainin"6

 For any crossin" incident, re ortin" rotocols are clearly established so that staff

in the #C Trans o control room has direct contact &ith 879 'ail and their contractor, 'ail Term, in order to res ond a ro riately6 and, 7 &ould li/e to also ac/no&led"e the coo erati.e &or/ demonstrated by all staff and unions at #C Trans o5 Their commitment to safety is reco"ni?ed and a reciated5 7 &ill continue to re ort as more information becomes a.ailable5 Original signed by: $te.e Fanella/os