SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio councilman believes there could be a way to help drivers avoid getting stuck waiting at the dozens of railroad crossings across the city.
Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) has filed a council consideration request (CCR) asking city staff to look into the feasibility of a real-time notification system for trains approaching or stopped at railroad crossings.
The proposal calls for assessing the use of sensors and other technologies, as well as partnerships with rail operators and mapping platforms, such as Waze and Google Maps.
“If I’m driving and my phone is right here with the GPS on it, the same way that we can sometimes see ‘Hey, there’s a police on the way; hey, there is a lane closure; hey, there’s an object on the road,’ McKee-Rodriguez explained in an interview with KSAT. “We should be able to see ‘Hey, there’s a train approaching in about three minutes.’ Something like that would be fantastic.”
Houston has a “Train Watch” system that posts whether a crossing is “open” or “occupied” on its city website, but McKee-Rodriguez wants to go further.
“I don’t want somebody to have to go on a website while they’re driving and have to navigate that,” he said. “That, to me, like, it’s progress, but it’s not progress in a far enough direction. So I’m looking to get to that final destination.”
Jonathan Jimenez told KSAT he gets stuck at crossings “pretty often.” The longest he has had to wait was “about an hour.”
“It’s just been times where we get off work late around two o’clock in the morning and going home, just that train, and then it stops,” Jimenez said. “And you already get closed in from the cars behind you, and it’s like another 30, 40 minutes trying to go around waiting.”
He likes the idea of getting a heads-up through a navigation app.
“Give you time to adjust your route, try to beat the train, or, like I said, try to find a different route,” he said. “That’d be very helpful, actually.”
McKee-Rodriguez’s request doesn’t come with specifics on how the system would be set up. However, it calls for engaging Union Pacific and other rail operators on data sharing, coordination, and pilot program opportunities.
He also wants staff to assess the use of sensors, GPS train telemetry, signal data, cameras, or other technologies to detect train presence, movement and stoppage. McKee-Rodriguez also asked that problem rail corridors or crossings be identified for a pilot program.
McKee-Rodriguez’s proposal mentions alerting first responders to railroad crossing blockages and possibly integrating with city traffic management and emergency response systems.
A San Antonio Fire Department spokesman said their vehicles do get stuck at railroad crossings, but not frequently enough to keep statistics on it.
Typically, he said, the crews alert dispatchers to the delay, and they can dispatch someone on the other side of the tracks instead.
The request was supported by Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1), Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran (D3), Councilman Edward Mungia (D4) and Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5).
The request still needs to go before the Governance Committee to begin the consideration process.
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