The Illinois Commerce Commission's Railroad Safety Section has issued a Request for Grant Proposals for local railroad safety education and enforcement programs. The ICC recently received a grant from the Federal Railroad Administration to continue working with local communities and railroads in Illinois to implement railroad safety education or enforcement programs.

In 2001, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) helped launch the project now known as PEERS (Public Education and Enforcement Research Study) after convening roundtable meetings of state and local officials to discuss ways to improve safety at railroad crossings in Illinois.

"This successful partnership between the Federal Railroad Administration and the Illinois Commerce Commission came out of a terrible tragedy - a fatal train crash in Bourbonnais in 1999 that forced us all to sit down and reexamine the safety of Illinois rail crossings," said Durbin. "Since then, the PEERS program has dramatically reduced rail crossing violations, by as much as 71 percent in Northeastern Illinois. With this funding we are able to continue to promote rail safety and prevent future tragedies. I strongly encourage all communities affected by rail traffic to apply for these grants."

In addition to traffic law violations decreasing by as much as 71 percent, analysis of collision data by the ICC indicates that collisions between vehicles (and pedestrians) at public highway-rail grade crossings in Illinois, have decreased by 46 percent since PEERS was implemented. PEERS funds provide local police departments an opportunity to provide positive reinforcement to members of the public who comply with traffic laws while preventing needless tragedies in their communities.

Communities interested in partnering with the ICC on a rail safety education or enforcement program, may submit a proposal describing railroad safety concerns in the area, proposed education and/or enforcement activities, and the amount of the grant request.

$2.4 million has been distributed via 116 grants to five Illinois railroads, two railroad safety related non-profit organizations and 109 communities throughout Illinois. In the first five phases of PEERS that have been completed, PEERS grantees have devoted over 10,000 hours of man-power to enforcing railroad related traffic safety laws during which 8,957 citations and warnings were issued and 119 arrests were made.

In addition, PEERS has provided for the training for more than 100 individuals to become certified Operation Lifesaver presenters who have then gone out into their communities and made 4,735 presentations reaching an audience of over 250,000 people.

Typical PEERS-funded activities include law enforcement details (referred to as safety "blitzes") where officers target specific hot spots with additional enforcement. The installation of appropriate signage to warn the public is a first step to implementing effective enforcement campaigns.

With PEERS funds, two railroad safety related non-profit organizations, Health World and Illinois Operation Lifesaver, partnered with ICC staff to develop innovative approaches to reaching children throughout Chicago's suburbs, via the Railroad Rally.

The deadline to submit proposals is noon on Nov. 1, 2010. Proposals selected for funding will be announced on or after Dec. 1, 2010. The grants will be awarded for projects to be implemented between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2011.