SAFE CROSS Act

This bill tells the Federal Railroad Administration to study whether using AI-enabled sensors at rail crossings can make people safer. The study will look at benefits, challenges, and costs, with the goal of reducing pedestrian and car accidents at crossings.

Within one year of the bill becoming law, the agency must:

• Review any pilot programs and real-world uses of AI sensors at rail crossings.
• Compare costs and benefits of AI sensors to other safety steps, like building bridges or underpasses.
• Identify best practices for using these sensors. After the study is done, the findings and recommendations must be posted online within 30 days for use by federal, state, Tribal, and local regulators, and by private groups responsible for crossing safety technology.

Key points

• Who’s affected: Regulators and private entities managing rail crossing safety; communities near rail crossings; drivers and pedestrians who use those crossings.
• What changes: A nationwide study of AI sensor safety at crossings, including cost-benefit analysis and best practices, with public results.
• When: Study due within 1 year of enactment; results posted within 30 days after the study is complete.