Prof Ir Hera Widyastuti MT PhD while presenting her scientific oration at the Open Session of the Professors Council for the Inauguration of ITS Professors

ITS Campus, ITS News — The accumulation of vehicles when there is a doorstop closure at a railroad crossing is a problem that is often faced in Indonesia. This prompted the 213th Professor of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Prof Ir Hera Widyastuti MT PhD, to introduce the Model of Queuing the Railway Level Crossings to overcome the buildup of vehicles at railroad crossings.

This Professor of the ITS Department of Civil Engineering explained that closing railroad crossing doors for too long often makes road users uneasy. This is especially true on double-track tracks, which have a higher frequency of passing trains than single tracks, so the closing time is more frequent. “This can cause a buildup in the queue of vehicles that will pass,” explained the woman born in 1960.

Based on this problem, the lecturer from Surabaya developed a data-based queuing model to analyze the impact of train frequency on road traffic. Hera explained that two new factors, the speed, and length of the train, need to be considered to calculate the optimal duration of crossbar closure.

Prof Ir Hera Widyastuti MT PhD when explaining the train sound motto 35 (S.35) in the ITS Civil Engineering Laboratory of Transportation and Road Materials

According to Hera, the speed and length of the train also affect the duration of crossing closure. Faster trains shorten the closing time, while longer trains lengthen it. If the crossing is closed while the queue is still long, the accumulation of vehicles is inevitable.

In addition, Hera also involved social aspects by examining road users’ expectations of the duration of crossing closure. From the research results for her inaugural scientific oration as a professor, Hera concluded that 30 seconds before and after the train passes the crossing is the ideal duration for closing. “That way, the previous waiting time can be more precise,” said the Co-lead Infrastructure Cluster Australian Indonesian Center (AIC) for 2014 – 2018.

Prof Ir Hera Widyastuti MT PhD while discussing public transportation at the Czech-Indo Ship Exhibition 2024

Hera emphasized the importance of double-track optimization to realize comfortable and effective transportation. According to her, the frequent passing of trains on the double track must also be balanced with the proper headway (time interval) between trains not to worsen the buildup when there is a crossing closure. “From the research results, a good headway is when it has a duration of more than 2.5 minutes,” said Hera.

Furthermore, she explained that if the headway between trains on the double track is 3 minutes when there is a closure with a time of 23 seconds, the result will not be a buildup if the number of vehicles is less than 80 percent of the road capacity. Conversely, a 152-second closure can cause congestion if the volume of vehicles exceeds 10 percent of the road capacity. “Therefore, headway settings must be optimized,” he said.

Finally, the Head of the Laboratory of Transportation and Road Materials of the ITS Civil Engineering Department revealed that this research also helps achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities. Hera hopes that her research can be a reference for the government in increasing the capacity of railroad crossings. “Hopefully, this research can also reduce traffic accidents at railroad crossings in Indonesia,” she said. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Khaila Bening Amanda Putri
Translator: Lael Soebakir