README for “Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present” dataset. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA); U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor] 2025-05-29 ---------------------------------------------------------------- LINKS TO DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1520835 B. NTAD catalog dataset link (Current Year): https://doi.org/10.21949/1522256 ---------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present dataset is from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’s (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The Railroad Grade Crossings is a spatial file that originates from the National Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory Program. The program is to provide information to the public, Federal, State, and Local governments, as well as the railroad industry for information and the improvements of safety at highway-rail crossings. Some railroad grade crossings were located outside the US or their respective states, and relocated to latitude longitude 0,0. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. General Information B. Sharing/Access & Policies Information C. Data and Related File Overview D. Methodological Information E. Data-Specific Information for: Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present [datasets] F. Update Log ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. GENERAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Title of Dataset: Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present [dataset] 1. Description of Dataset: The Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present dataset is from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The Railroad Grade Crossings is a spatial file that originates from the National Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory Program. The program is to provide information to the public, Federal, State, and Local governments, as well as the railroad industry for information and the improvements of safety at highway-rail crossings. Some railroad grade crossings were located outside the US or their respective states, and relocated to latitude longitude 0,0. 2. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1520835 3. Authorship Information: Principal Data Creator or Data Manager Contact Information Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Contact: frapa@dot.gov Data Distributor Contact Information Name: National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Office of Spatial Analysis and Visualization (OSAV) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Email: ntad@dot.gov 4. Date of data collection and update interval: This dataset is updated annually. 5. Geographic location of data collection: United States of America 6. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ---------------------------------------------------------------- B. SHARING/ACCESS & POLICIES INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Recommended citation for the data: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor]. Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present [datasets]. https://doi.org/10.21949/1520835 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: These data are in the Public Domain. 2. Was data derived from another source?: Yes. The dataset was generated from the FRA grade crossing inventory which populates FRA GIS grade crossing layer monthly. 3.This document was created to meet the requirements enumerated in the U.S. Department of Transportation's 'Plan to Increase Public Access to the Results of Federally-Funded Scientific Research' Version 1.1 << https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559 >> and guidelines suggested by the DOT Public Access website << https://doi.org/10.21949/1503647 >>, in effect and current as of December 03, 2020. ---------------------------------------------------------------- C. DATA & RELATED FILE OVERVIEW ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. File List for the Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present dataset A. Filename: Railroad_Crossings_NTAD2008_Present.zip Short description: Compressed file folders containing the geospatial data for Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present dataset. File folders are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage year or date respectively. B. Filename: bts_NTAD_Railroad_Crossings_DMP_20250529.pdf Short description: A PDF file containing the Data Management Plan that was created for current and future management of the data and associated files. C. Filename: bts_NTAD_Railroad_Crossings_README_20250529.txt Short description: The README.txt file that includes human-readable information about the data, variable definitions, contact information, and other contextual information. The file you are reading now. 2. File List for the Railroad_Crossings_NTAD2008_Present.zip collection. A. Filename: NTADXXXX_SHP_Final_Railroad_Crossings_XXXX*.zip or NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_Railroad_Crossings_XXXX_XX_XX.zip Short description: Compressed file folders containing the geospatial data for Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present dataset. File folders are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage year respectively. 3a. File List for the NTADXXXX_SHP_Final_Railroad_Crossings_XXXX*.zip collection. A. Filename: rr_crossings.shp or railroad_grade_crossings.shp Short description: A shapefile containing the geospatial data for Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present dataset. This includes associated files with extensions .prj, .dbf, .sbn, .sbx, .shx. B. Filename: rr_crossings.txt and rr_crossings.shp.xml, or railroad_grade_crossings.shp.xml Short description: Text files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, data dictionary, etc. 3b. File List for the NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_Railroad_Crossings_XXXX_XX_XX.zip collection A. Filename: NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_Railroad_Crossings_XXXX_XX_XX.gdb.zip Short description: A file geodatabase containing the geospatial data for Railroad Grade Crossings 2008-Present dataset. Geodatabase (GDB) folders contain all the necessary components to view and otherwise interact with their data. B. Filename: Railroad_Grade_Crossings.xml Short description: Text files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, etc. C. Filename: RR_Cross.xlsx or Railroad_Grade_Crossings.xlsx Short description: Excel spreadsheet containing the dataset's data dictionary. ---------------------------------------------------------------- D. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: The dataset was generated from the FRA grade crossing inventory which populates FRA GIS grade crossing layer monthly then distributed to NTAD annually. 2. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: The data and documentation files can be opened with Esri ArcMap and any GIS software package. ---------------------------------------------------------------- E. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Railroad Grade Crossings data table This dataset is updated annually. for NTAD Dataset Manager is contacted to verify changes to data resulting in NTAD update. The metadata is updated in the same manner. For the most recent data, please visit the NTAD catalog at https://doi.org/10.21949/1522256 A. Number of variables (columns): The data dictionary found in (PDF documentation) provides definitions for the variables B. Data Dictionary/Variable List: Because of the large number of variables, please refer to the Data Dictionary found within the file Railroad_Crossings.txt for names, definitions, and formats of variables. C. Missing data codes: None ---------------------------------------------------------------- F. UPDATE LOG ---------------------------------------------------------------- This bts_Railroad_Crossings_20250529_README.txt file was originally created on 2021-02-16 by Dominic Menegus, Geographer, dominic.menegus@dot.gov [Note changes or update to the readme.txt file, e.g.:] 2021-02-16: Original file created 2025-05-29: Revised document, including data descriptions and file organization.