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Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads After a sharp increase in the number of rail crossing accidents last year, the Federal Railroad Administration plans to announce a new partnership with Google on Monday to provide the locations of all grade crossings in the company’s popular map application. Google has agreed to include information from the United States Department of Transportation’s vast database to pinpoint every rail crossing in the country in Google Maps. Google will also add audio and visual alerts to the app for when drivers use the turn-by-turn navigation feature. There are about 130,000 public and 85,000 private grade, or level, crossings across the country. The number of accidents at crossings had declined more than 80 percent, to about 2,000 a year in recent years from about 12,000 a year in the 1970s. But last year, the number rose by 9 percent. This upswing has prompted the railroad agency to seek new ways to stem this longstanding hazard through technology. Last year, 270 people died in highway-rail collisions, up from 232 the previous year, and 843 people were injured, according to federal safety statistics. Grade-crossing accidents are the second-highest cause of rail fatalities after trespassing accidents, which killed 533 people last year. Drivers are increasingly reliant on their smartphones for directions, and major tech firms — including Google, Apple and Facebook — have developed location-based services that make the most of their capabilities. Google has been a pioneer in mapping, and its mobile app is one of the most popular maps for Android phones and iPhones.Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads The partnership with Google is likely to precede other announcements. The agency said it had also reached out to four other map makers — Apple, MapQuest, TomTom and Garmin — to include similar features on their apps or mapping devices. Grade-crossing accidents are generally caused by driver inattention and error, according to the rail regulator. In many instances, there are no gates or blinking lights to warn drivers of an oncoming train — just a crossing sign or a crossbuck (a white “X” marked with the words “railroad crossing”). Officials and safety advocates do not have a precise explanation as to why grade accidents rose last year. A growing economy might have contributed to increasing freight train traffic and put more people on the roads. Distracted driving might be another factor. “The vast majority of these accidents and deaths are preventable,” said Sarah Feinberg, the Federal Railroad Administration’s acting administrator. “In some cases, maybe a driver intends to beat the train, thinks they are familiar with the route or still have time to cross. But there are many cases where drivers lack situational awareness, because it may be dark or the route is unfamiliar.” She points out that many drivers now routinely plug their destination into their smartphones, often to find the fastest itinerary or avoid traffic. No date has been given for when the crossing information will be available on Google Maps, but Department of Transportation officials say the company has made the project a priority. “We’re happy to help the Federal Railroad Administration as we’re always looking for new ways to make maps useful to our users,” Mara Harris, a Google spokeswoman, said. Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads The Department of Transportation has developed its own app, called the Rail Crossing Location Mobile Application, that provides drivers with a catalog of all crossing locations. But the app does not alert drivers when they are about to cross over tracks. It is also not used much. The same data found on this app would also be used by Google and others. “We have some really good data on these crossings but we have to put the data where people are using it,” Ms. Feinberg said. “What makes sense is to take that data where people are gathering. It makes much more sense for me to share my data with Google, rather than try to get Google users to come to my app. For us, it makes a ton of sense to get that information out there.” In February, a Metro-North commuter train struck a sport utility vehicle that was stuck on the tracks, killing six people. That accident took place just weeks after Ms. Feinberg, formerly the chief of staff to the secretary of transportation, was named as the railroad agency’s acting administrator. The accident, along with last year’s uptick in the number of fatalities, prompted Ms. Feinberg to turn to technology partners for help. Before joining the Department of Transportation, Ms. Feinberg, a former White House employee, had worked at Facebook, giving her knowledge of how big tech companies develop their products. Joyce Rose, president of Operation Lifesaver, a rail safety educational group, welcomed the new initiative. She says that a vehicle or a person is hit by a train every three hours in the United States. About half of those accidents happened at cross roads with a gate or lights, she said. “It’s another tool in the toolbox to make the public safer,” Ms. Rose said. “This is going to help raise awareness about where crossings are and, hopefully, remind drivers to act safely as they approach.”Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads