Development and Evaluation of a Moving Map Display for Rail Applications

Liu, Andrew; Oman, Charles M.; Voelbel, Kathleen · 2017 · ROSA P / United States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research, Development, and Technology

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (full text — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This report details the development and evaluation of a prototype real-time moving map display designed to enhance situation awareness and safety for locomotive engineers in future U.S. high-speed rail applications. The research was motivated by the increasing complexity of rail operations, the dispersion of critical information across multiple paper forms and displays, and the need for systematic cab design improvements alongside technologies like Positive Train Control. The primary objective was to create a centralized digital interface that consolidates route, speed, and terrain data, thereby reducing cognitive workload and improving safety performance. The project employed a human-systems engineering approach, beginning with a hybrid Cognitive Task Analysis (hCTA) to derive Information and Functional Requirements. These requirements informed the design of an iPad-based prototype featuring visualizations of track routes, speed restrictions, grade, curvature, and a note-taking system for track warrants. The display was evaluated in two phases. First, a cognitive walkthrough with 10 experienced engineers assessed comprehension and usability; subjects successfully identified display information and entered track warrant data, providing feedback that led to design revisions. Second, a human-in-the-loop experiment was conducted using the Federal Railroad Administration’s Cab Technology Integration Laboratory. Eight experienced commuter rail engineers drove a 38-mile simulated route twice, once with and once without the moving map display, allowing for a direct comparison of operational performance. The results indicated that train handling performance and rule adherence were comparable between the two conditions, with similarly low rates of violations such as overspeeding. However, engineers required an additional 30 to 60 seconds to enter track warrant information into the iPad compared to using paper forms, a delay attributed to unfamiliarity with the electronic interface layout. Subjectively, engineers found the display helpful, particularly the consolidated Route and Speed views, which reduced the mental effort required to maintain situation awareness. The note-creation feature was also valued, though engineers suggested improvements to the interaction design. Participants noted that the Grade display aided train handling in unfamiliar terrain, while the Curvature display was deemed unnecessary. The study concludes that a moving map display can effectively consolidate critical operational information, potentially improving situation awareness without compromising safety or train handling performance. The authors suggest that such displays could also benefit conductors by supporting their situation awareness and communication with engineers. While the electronic entry of track warrants was slower than paper methods in this initial evaluation, the researchers attribute this to user unfamiliarity rather than inherent design flaws, implying that performance may improve with training and interface refinement. The findings support the integration of moving maps into future locomotive cabs as a tool for enhancing safety and operational efficiency.

Key finding

Engineers demonstrated similar train handling performance and rule adherence when using the moving map display compared to operating without it, although entering track warrant information took 30 to 60 seconds longer than using paper forms.

Methodology

lab_experiment

Sample size: 18

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• rail grade crossings