Frequently Asked Questions
Oculus Rail provides real-time and historical railroad crossing intelligence to communities, transportation agencies, railroads, emergency responders and motorists. Our sensor network monitors crossing activity and turns that information into actionable data—without requiring customers to purchase or maintain sensor infrastructure.
About Oculus Rail
What does Oculus Rail do?
Oculus Rail monitors railroad crossings and provides real-time and historical information about crossing activity. Our technology detects whether a monitored crossing is blocked or clear and records when blockages occur and how long they last, along with time-stamped images.
Customers can access detailed information through the Oculus Rail dashboard and data exports, while motorists can see real-time information for monitored crossings through the free Oculus Rail app.
Who uses Oculus Rail?
Oculus Rail is designed for municipalities, state Departments of Transportation, railroads, emergency responders and other organizations that need better information about railroad crossing activity.
Motorists and community members can access real-time information for monitored crossings through the free Oculus Rail app.
Why is railroad crossing data important?
Blocked crossings can affect traffic flow, emergency response, school transportation, freight movement and everyday travel.
Reliable data helps communities understand how frequently crossings are blocked, how long blockages last, when they occur and which locations experience recurring problems. This information can support transportation planning, grant applications, infrastructure decisions, emergency-response planning and discussions among communities and railroads.
Why not get this information directly from the railroad?
Oculus Rail provides an independent record of actual crossing activity. Railroads generally do not provide train schedules or detailed crossing activity information to the public.
Rather than relying on a train schedule, Oculus Rail measures what is actually happening at a monitored crossing.
Crossing Data & Technology
What information does Oculus Rail provide?
For monitored crossings, Oculus Rail provides real-time blocked or clear status along with information about how long a current blockage has lasted.
The Oculus Rail app also displays the average blockage duration for a crossing based on the past 30 days. Customers have access to more detailed historical crossing information through the Oculus Rail dashboard and data exports.
Can Oculus Rail predict when a train will arrive or when a crossing will clear?
Not currently. Oculus Rail provides real-time information about whether a monitored crossing is blocked or clear rather than predicting when a train will arrive or when a crossing will reopen.
Rail movements can be difficult to predict reliably. A train may stop unexpectedly because of mechanical or operational issues, and crossings near rail yards, terminals or distribution centers may experience trains moving back and forth across the same crossing during switching or other operations. These conditions make it difficult to reliably predict how long a particular crossing will remain blocked.
Instead of presenting an estimated clearing time that may prove inaccurate, Oculus Rail provides the actual current crossing status and how long the current blockage has lasted, along with the average blockage duration over the past 30 days.
Can customers download Oculus Rail data?
Yes. Customers can export crossing data in formats including CSV, JSON and Excel for uses such as transportation planning, grant applications, planning studies and internal analysis.
Can Oculus Rail data be integrated with other systems?
Yes. Oculus Rail data can be integrated with other transportation and public-safety systems. Specific integration requirements depend on the customer’s systems and intended use.
Privacy, Images & Data Transparency
Does Oculus Rail use facial recognition or license plate recognition?
No. Oculus Rail monitors crossings, not people.
Oculus Rail does not use facial recognition or automatic license plate recognition (ALPR). Our technology is designed to monitor railroad crossing activity—not to identify, profile or track individual people, motorists or vehicles.
Images associated with crossing activity may contain vehicles or people that are within a sensor’s field of view, but the purpose of the system is to monitor crossing activity rather than identify the individuals or vehicles present.
Who can access images?
Images are available only to authorized Oculus Rail customers, including municipalities, state DOTs and railroads.
Oculus Rail maintains an audit trail of image access.
Are Oculus Rail images sold or publicly available?
No. Images are not sold and are not publicly available.
Does the Oculus Rail app collect personal information?
An Oculus Rail account is not required to use the app. Users may optionally provide an email address when signing up for certain features.
For Cities, DOTs, Railroads & Emergency Responders
How can cities and DOTs use Oculus Rail intelligence?
Cities and transportation agencies can use real-time and historical crossing data to understand recurring crossing delays, evaluate transportation impacts, support planning studies, identify priority locations and provide documentation for grant applications and infrastructure planning.
How can Oculus Rail help emergency responders?
Oculus Rail provides emergency responders and public-safety agencies with real-time awareness of whether monitored crossings are blocked or clear.
Crossing data can also be integrated with agency systems where technically appropriate, and historical information can help agencies evaluate how frequently important emergency routes are affected by blocked crossings.
Oculus Rail provides situational awareness; it does not guarantee an unobstructed emergency route.
Does Oculus Rail control trains or railroad signals?
No. Oculus Rail is an information system. It does not control trains, railroad signals, crossing gates or railroad operations.
Is Oculus Rail a railroad signaling or safety-critical operating system?
No. Oculus Rail provides real-time crossing information and historical data. It is not a railroad signaling system, train-control system or replacement for railroad safety systems.
How can railroads use Oculus Rail?
Railroads can use Oculus Rail data to better understand actual crossing activity and community impacts and to support data-driven collaboration with municipalities, DOTs and other stakeholders.
Monitoring System, Maintenance & Installation
How does Oculus Rail’s crossing intelligence monitoring system work?
Oculus Rail provides a fully managed railroad crossing intelligence system that delivers real-time crossing status, historical insights, and actionable information to support safety, mobility, emergency response, and infrastructure planning. Oculus Rail owns, installs, and maintains the sensor infrastructure, eliminating the need for customers to purchase or manage equipment. Customers pay an annual monitoring and maintenance service fee for their selected crossings.
Do municipalities need to purchase or maintain the sensors?
No. Oculus Rail provides a turnkey monitoring solution, including sensor installation, operation, maintenance, and access to real-time crossing intelligence. Oculus Rail retains ownership of the equipment, allowing municipalities to benefit from a continuously managed monitoring network without assuming responsibility for the hardware.
Who owns the crossing data?
Oculus Rail retains ownership of the data generated by its sensor network. Through our Annual Railroad Crossing Monitoring and Maintenance Service, customers receive access to real-time crossing intelligence, historical trends, and detailed analytics for their monitored crossings.
Customers may export and retain historical data collected during their service agreement and continue using that information after the agreement ends for authorized purposes, including safety studies, transportation planning, infrastructure investments, and grant applications.
Is Oculus Rail crossing information available to the public?
Yes! The Oculus Rail app is free and available to everyone, with no account or subscription required. Motorists, residents, and other users can view real-time crossing status and recent historical information for crossings monitored by Oculus Rail through our free app.
When a municipality deploys Oculus Rail monitoring, it not only gains access to comprehensive crossing intelligence and analytics but also makes valuable crossing information available to the public at no cost.
What does a municipality receive that isn't available through the free app?
Customers (municipalities, transportation agencies, railroads, etc.) receive a comprehensive crossing intelligence service that goes beyond the free public app. This includes detailed historical data, crossing activity reports, trend analysis, downloadable records, and access to a dedicated dashboard for monitoring and evaluating crossing performance.
Oculus Rail can also support, for an additional fee, integrations with transportation management systems, including statewide 511 platforms, traffic management systems, digital messaging boards, Waze, and emergency dispatch systems, helping agencies turn real-time crossing intelligence into more actionable decisions for emergency response and motorists.
When a municipality deploys Oculus Rail monitoring, it not only gains access to comprehensive crossing intelligence and analytics but also makes valuable crossing information available to the public at no cost.
How are Oculus Rail sensors installed?
Oculus Rail sensors are solar-powered and communicate wirelessly, allowing physical installation to be completed relatively quickly without requiring wired power or telecommunications infrastructure at the crossing.
The longest part of deployment is often obtaining an easement or other required authorization from the city, county or state that controls the installation location. Requirements vary depending on ownership and control of the right-of-way.
Does Oculus Rail need access to railroad property?
Oculus Rail typically installs sensors outside railroad property. The exact location and required permissions depend on the individual crossing and ownership or control of the surrounding right-of-way.
Who maintains the equipment?
Oculus Rail owns and maintains its sensor infrastructure. The subscribing agency does not have to purchase, own or maintain the roadside equipment.
For Drivers & Communities
Is the Oculus Rail app free?
Yes! The Oculus Rail app is free and available through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Do I need an account?
No. Anyone can download and use the Oculus Rail app without creating an account.
Can I see every railroad crossing?
Any railroad crossing monitored by an Oculus Rail sensor is available within the app.
Why isn't my crossing monitored?
Crossings shown as monitored in the app are locations where an Oculus Rail sensor has been deployed through a data subscription from a municipality, state Department of Transportation or other subscribing customer.
Can I request that a crossing be added?
Yes!
Visit our Citizen Toolkit for resources to help you contact local officials and request Oculus Rail coverage for crossings in your community.
How quickly does the app update?
The Oculus Rail app provides real-time crossing information. There may be a brief delay—typically approximately 5 to 10 seconds—as information travels from the sensor to the cloud and then to the app.
Can I receive notifications for crossings I use regularly?
Yes!
You can save the crossings you use regularly as favorites and select the times of day when you want to receive notifications about crossing activity.
Does Oculus Rail tell me which alternate route to take?
No. Oculus Rail is not mapping or navigation software.
The app provides real-time information about whether a monitored railroad crossing is blocked or clear so motorists can use that information when deciding whether to take another route.
Does Oculus Rail work with Waze?
Oculus Rail is integrating real-time crossing information with Waze in participating communities that are part of the Waze connected-city program. Availability depends on the participating community and its integration with Waze.
Coverage
Is Oculus Rail available nationwide?
Oculus Rail is expanding its sensor network across the United States. The app displays crossings currently monitored by Oculus Rail.
Municipalities, DOTs, railroads and other organizations interested in bringing Oculus Rail to their communities can contact us to discuss coverage.
Why are some crossings monitored while others nearby are not?
Oculus Rail customers select the crossings included in their data subscriptions. A participating community may therefore have sensors at some crossings but not every crossing.
Residents interested in adding another location can use our Citizen Toolkit to contact local officials and request coverage.