Rail Regulatory Excellence
Rail Regulatory Excellence IntelliConference
Rules and regulations are promulgated in reaction to various events and experiences. Often, they develop a life of their own, untethered to the original intent and absent awareness of system consequences, frustrating stakeholders. Improvements are often challenging as individual industries and companies beseech government from a vested interest point of view. A robust set of recommendations informed objectively by all perspectives is critical to meet urgent safety, productivity, financial, and environmental goals.
Core question: What regulations can stakeholders agree on that are either outdated, de minimis, redundant, counterproductive, or can be improved or replaced in support of the growth and safety of railroads and their service?
Round One
Completing the framework
In addition to the following, what other areas do regulations apply in owning and operating railroads?
Financial reporting
Service reporting
Licenses and permits
Employee Management
Train Operations
Maintenance of way
Taxes
Insurance and liability
Locomotive emissions
Rolling stock design/equipment requirements
Inspection, track and rolling stock
Equipment supplier country of origin
Cybersecurity
National security/DoD functions
Common carrier responsibilities(e.g., must haul high-risk, high-liability hazmat commodities)
Interchange rules (e.g., receiving RRs are responsible for safe railcar conditions)
Pertaining to each regulatory area, what regulations: Are counter-productive?
Are redundant, and where is another regulation or procedure handling the issue?
Should be eliminated because the issue they target is inconsequential?
Should be improved in some way? How?
Have a positive impact that is outweighed by the costs?
Impact customers’ shipping mode decisions in a way that is counter-productive to the overall policy goal?
What activities or relationships need new regulations to be optimally deployed? Examples: Railcar defect detection
Trackage defect detection
Train control safety technology (e.g., ECP braking, PTC II)
Directed service
Degree of inter- and intra-modal competition
Reciprocal switching
Round Two
Identifying Impacted Parties and Establishing Measures
For each of the regulations identified in Round One: Who are the impacted parties?
What data measures have been used to illuminate the need for that regulation?
What data has been used to quantify the benefits of each regulation for each impacted party?
How is the cost of implementing a regulation allocated and funded relative to each impacted party?
Round Three
Developing Regulations that Fit
How do we need to think about regulations to best fit various characteristics of rail operations?
What regulations that apply to larger railroads should be adjusted for smaller railroads?
What regulations should be further distinguished for line haul routes of varying characteristics? Examples:
Lines that host passenger trains
Lines that host hazardous commodities
FRA track classification level
Traffic level by tonnage or train frequency
Service Quality metrics (train velocity, re-crew rates, ETA failures)
What regulations should be further distinguished for terminals and railyards of varying characteristics? Examples:
Degree of automated operations
Degree of automated inspection capability
Provision of yard air
Local service quality metrics (switching volume, terminal dwell, first-mile/last-mile failure rate)
What regulations should be further distinguished by commodity hauled or railcar type?
Hazmat and placarding
Gross weight per car classification
Excess length/height railcars
Dimensional loads
Community emergency response notification
Train consist-oriented characteristics:
Train length and weight
Railcar placement in consist
Locomotive placement in consist
Container/trailer placement per railcar
Buffer car requirements
What performance metrics should be established for each regulatory objective?
Round Four
Prioritization and Process
What regulatory issues are most urgent to address?
Should the regulatory landscape and policy favor one mode over another?
Why?
What process should be established for reviewing and/or sunsetting rules and regulations at intervals or upon a change in circumstances?
How frequently should a regulation undergo review to understand changes in benefits and costs?
What monitoring or reporting improvements can be identified?
How should hard and soft costs of regulations be calculated and recognized?
Who are the impacted parties?
What data measures have been used to illuminate the need for that regulation?
How is the cost of implementing a regulation apportioned and funded relative to each stakeholder group?
What factors should be weighed in regulatory execution decisions and implementation timing?
Technology maturity
Pragmatic deployment timing
Costs and benefits to impacted parties
Effectiveness of the regulation toward achieving the objective
What types of changes should be made to rulemaking and regulatory processes?
Does the regulation account for all impacted parties?
Does the regulation shift the modal balance in a way that negates the overall benefit?
Examples for evaluation: Hours of service limitations to promote safe operation
Total GHG/particulate/NOx emissions per shipment unit
Toxic material emissions per accident
Equipment inspection intervals
How can the need for rules and regulations be mitigated with trust and cooperation?
What transformation in principles and culture among impacted parties can lead to the presence of trust as expected and delivered?
What transparent and comparable Key Performance Measures empower trust and cooperation, and how are they collected, registered, and interpreted?
