ProductsGrant Management SoftwareRail

Highway-Rail Crossing Data Management System for State DOTs and State Entities

Seamlessly manage and track highway and crossing data across your state.

Make better safety decisions, meet federal crossing data collection standards and requirements, and streamline the highway-rail data collection and analysis workflow process with BlackCat Rail. Benefit from resource efficiencies, accurate information sharing, and the added value of electronic submission of US Department of Transportation (DOT) crossing inventory data to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Report and Comply with FRA’s Railroad Safety, Regulatory, and Inspection Requirements

Save time and generate efficiencies with seamless electronic submission of US DOT crossing inventory data to the FRA.

Make Better Safety Decisions with Accurate Data at Your Fingertips

From crossings, projects, funding, inventories, crash, and incident data, you’re able to leverage this critical information to make more informed safety decisions.

Increase Transparency and Promote Data Sharing with key Stakeholders

Facilitate accurate information sharing by providing the FRA, state departments of transportation, and railroads a common place to collect and share data.

Ditch Cumbersome Paper and Manual Processes for an Intuitive, Cloud-Based System that Saves Time

Access the system anytime, anywhere and benefit from continuous superb customer support, inclusive pricing model, comprehensive user and sub-recipient training, and more.

Simplify the Tracking and Data Associated with Improvement Projects

Easily access, track, and report on obligated funding amounts, project descriptions, and drawdown data all in one place.

BlackCat Rail Data Management System Key Features

  • Crossing Inventory
  • Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Submittal
  • Statistics
  • Projects
  • Reports
  • Library

Crossing Inventory

All FRA-required information is included in the inventory tab. Items include roadway location and ownership data, railroad ownership data, and latitude and longitude coordinates to map the crossing in Google Maps. This feature also includes:

  • Crossing road, vicinity, gates, signals, signs
  • Traffic statistics and incident tracking
  • Gaming module that allows users to alter incident variables to calculate the safety index of different scenarios
  • Comments field for the FRA
  • Photo library and archiving
  • Crossing field review

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Submittal

As a State DOT or railroad, enter railroad and highway crossing data changes into the system and then upload the data directly to the FRA.

Statistics

Crossing statistics can be easily plotted and viewed in a graphical format.

Projects

Dollars obligated, project descriptions and estimates, and drawdown data are efficiently tracked. Railroad crossing agreements can be quickly accessed with all project data.

Reports

Benefit from several pre-formatted reports, including common forms such as the Diagnostic Crossing Report, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Review Report, Rail Inventory Form, and Crossing Statistics and Inventory reports.

Library

Easily access all crossing documents. Historical railroad agreements, dates, and contract types are stored in the library. Additionally, the library is linked to the project tab for auto-selection of the correct contract documents and dates for new projects.

BlackCat Rail Data Management System Key Features

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Client Retention Rate

“They are committed to the success of their system beyond deployment by providing ongoing training, ad hoc reports, and system updates in response to Federal regulation changes.”

Caltrans

“With B2Gnow you can see trends – where you’re growing, where your expansion could be. If you don’t know where you are or where you’ve been, you won’t know where you’re going.”

Chicago Public Schools

“B2Gnow saves you so much time and energy. You have the time to actually see how you can make your program better versus spending all of your time reviewing documentation and process procedures. It’s been a huge help.”

Chicago Transit Authority

“Prior to leveraging B2Gnow, we were receiving over 1,200 paper reports monthly. B2Gnow has seamlessly automated this monthly report process through its audit feature. Now the responsibility is on the subcontractors to confirm receipt of payments within the B2Gnow system.”

City of Fort Worth

“B2Gnow saves us a great deal of money because it generates thousands of faxes and emails. If we were to match that annually, it would require many human resources and postage costs.”

City of Houston

“They are knowledgeable and highly competent in all aspects of each project and our needs are always completely met.”

Florida Department of Transportation

“You have never lost that great customer service. You always respond to our questions and concerns and go that extra mile. It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”

Houston Airport System

“Great customer service. All my questions were answered, and I was guided through the screens I needed to complete.”

MetroWest Regional Transit Authority

“We’re a small airport and staffing hasn’t grown even though plane passengers have tripled. We needed a system to ease the job, and B2Gnow was there to save the day with their auditing dashboards and to make my job a lot easier.”

St. Pete – Clearwater International Airport

“This system has elements we needed to bring our grant management area under control. The time-savings for us only continues to grow.”

State Agency

“With B2Gnow system every document is in one place and right at our fingertips with a simple search. B2Gnow has made it much easier to report and prove our compliance to the FTA. With B2Gnow, there is more automation, which leads to better data integrity.”

State DOT

“With everything going paperless, leveraging this type of technology is a big benefit in terms of efficiency,”

Tampa International Airport

“We can conduct contract audits to see if there are any issues. B2Gnow even reports which sub-contractors have been paid and when. It saves so much time, and the cost of the tool is 100% worth the investment.”

Transit Authority

“B2Gnow allows general contractors to load the sub-contractors that they are using, showing if they are certified and meeting goals, that is definitely my favorite feature.”

University of Texas System

“The methods are easy to access, and grants and reimbursement requests are signed electronically, reducing processing time and increasing productivity. As the lead for this conversion at Aeronautics, I have also received high compliments from our airports, sponsors and consultants on this system.”

Wyoming Aeronautics Division

Make compliance easy. Make a difference in the community.

Discover how our vendor management, prevailing wage labor compliance, and grant management software solutions help you streamline processes and allow you to deliver greater impact to your community.


Rail Management Software

Rail Maintenance Software & Safety Tracking Tools

Rail Management Software FAQs

Rail data management software is a centralized, web-based platform designed to manage and track railroad crossing data, rail safety, maintenance, and construction projects. The BlackCat Rail Data Management System from B2Gnow is an example of this kind of rail management software. It serves as a common hub for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), state departments of transportation (DOTs), and railroads to collect and share data.

A rail management system, such as BlackCat Rail, improves operations by replacing outdated tools and fragmented data systems, such as spreadsheets and email chains, with a single, unified, real-time platform. This consolidation allows for better coordination and oversight, moving from a reactive to a strategic approach to safety. By centralizing all highway-rail crossing-related information, it ensures stakeholders can view the most current data simultaneously.

Key features of a rail data management system, such as BlackCat Rail, include a comprehensive crossing inventory with details like location, ownership, and coordinates. Best-in-class rail data management software also supports:

  • FRA Submittals: It enables direct electronic filing of the U.S. DOT Crossing Inventory Form to the FRA, which streamlines the submission process and ensures compliance with FRA standards.
  • Statistics and Reports: It provides graphical visualizations of crossing data to compare information across multiple years and generate pre-formatted reports, such as the Diagnostic Crossing Report and the U.S. DOT Crossing Inventory Form.
  • Project Tracking: The system allows for tracking project financials, including obligated dollars, estimates, and drawdown data.
  • Document Library: Users can access and store historical railroad agreements, field review photos, and other important documents.
  • Advanced Mapping: The use of GIS (Geographical Information Systems) maps helps pinpoint precise crossing locations and allows for advanced graphical searches.
  • Safety Simulation: A gaming module can simulate safety scenarios.

A rail management system greatly benefits railroads, state DOTs, FRA contractors, and consultants. It is specifically designed to support federal and state rail programs and improve collaboration between agencies.

Leveraging a rail management system, like BlackCat Rail, provides numerous benefits, including:

  • Centralization: It consolidates all data for projects, crossings, and safety reviews into a single platform.
  • Compliance: It ensures compliance with FRA standards and streamlines the submission of the U.S. DOT Crossing Inventory Form.
  • Improved Coordination: The software enhances coordination between DOTs, railroads, and federal partners by providing shared, up-to-date information.
  • Enhanced Safety: It helps visualize crossing safety using advanced search tools and graphical reports.
  • Streamlined Processes: The system accelerates project planning with easy access to historical agreements and incident data.

A rail management system can be useful to support predictive maintenance.  For instance, capabilities to track crossing statistics, incidents, and maintenance responsibilities can support predictive maintenance. By visualizing trends and accessing historical data, users can identify patterns and potential risks, which can inform maintenance planning and prioritize projects.

Yes, rail management software is critical for regulatory compliance. It helps meet FRA requirements and U.S. DOT Crossing Inventory Form Draft 6 submission needs with seamless electronic data transfer capabilities. Furthermore, a rail management system such as BlackCat Rail ensures compliance with FRA Draft 6 standards, providing a reliable and up-to-date platform for electronic submissions.

Rail data management software, such as BlackCat Rail, supports direct electronic filing with the FRA’s Grade Crossing Inventory System (GCIS), which is a key integration point for regulatory compliance. Furthermore, the organization has over 25 years of experience implementing and maintaining countless interfaces with multiple external systems.