Drones’ utility put to good use on rail network

By now, we’ve all become familiar with the use of drones in many facets of daily life.

Sometimes referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), these remote-controlled craft can carry out an impressive array of tasks, ranging from military operations to package delivery.

Drones can be as large as an aircraft or as small as the palm of your hand.

Anyone following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s conflict with Hamas has observed the increasing use by both sides of drones in combat and surveillance missions.

Employing drones prevents the loss of expensive military equipment and more importantly, human lives.

Far from the front lines of those conflicts, public-safety departments in this state have begun to use drones as a cost-effective method to help patrol the communities they serve.

Back in April, then interim Lowell Police Superintendent Barry Golner announced the department had added a drone to its arsenal. Its uses include searching for missing people, plus assisting with criminal investigations and emergency responses.

In June, great white shark researchers on Cape Cod began using drones to spot that apex predator near beaches, hoping to see whether this technology will prove to be an effective surveillance device.

In effect, drones have morphed from a curiosity into an integral part of multiple disciplines due to their cost-efficiency and powers of observation.

Both of those advantages will now be exploited by a state agency, an approach that we hope will be adopted by other government branches.

Thanks to a wide-ranging drone waiver granted by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division will now be able to more nimbly keep track of the state’s entire rail network.

The agency received permission to fly drones beyond operators’ line of vision, otherwise known as Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).

The waiver enables MassDOT’s Drone Operations Program to more efficiently collect data on the more than 1,000 miles of track, monitoring for breaches such as vegetation encroachment, flooding, or storm damage, further increasing rail safety.

This evaluation builds on a previous, narrower exemption from the FAA that allowed MassDOT to fly drones “Beyond Visual Line of Sight” over the MBTA’s Fitchburg commuter rail line, including through “controlled airspace” managed by air traffic control.

To assist the MBTA with vegetation and storm management, the Drone Operations Program has already collected a sample of track conditions by flying over MBTA rail corridors.

Contingent on receiving this rail pass, the FAA had to sign off on a rigorous safety evaluation that MassDOT Aeronautics had performed.

“We are grateful for the collaboration with our federal partners that has allowed MassDOT Aeronautics to adopt this drone waiver to fly BVLOS over our state rail lines,” said Transportation Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt. “Safety is a priority of MassDOT and the MBTA, and this waiver will help us inspect our staterails more often while also doing so more safely.”

According to MassDOT Aeronautics Administrator Jeff DeCarlo, this “latest BVLOS waiver not only marks a quantum leap for infrastructure inspection services in Massachusetts, but provides a model for all states to inspect a variety of infrastructure more rapidly, accurately, and comprehensively.”

MassDOT Aeronautics partnered with the MBTA and MITRE Corp. to devise a performance-based approach to enhance this upgraded observation ability, adjusting operations according to variations in geography, urban density, or airspace.

For higher altitude flights – over 50 feet and as high as 400 feet above obstructions – remote drone operators will rely on a visual observer to ensure safe separation between the drones and manned aircraft.

However, for drone flights up to 50 feet above rail lines or up to 50 feet above obstructions, MassDOT Aeronautics received a special “obstruction shielding”waiver, which allows drones to fly BVLOS without the need for visual observers.

This blended, flexible approach to operations will allow MassDOT Aeronautics to perform its mission more efficiently across a variety of landscapes with rail lines.

In essence, this surveillance advancement – only made possible by the use of drones – creates an innovative ability to identify deteriorating conditions along the vast expanse of the state’s rail system.

That should add an element of comfort for all those who use the MBTA’s many rail lines, either for commuting to work or engaging in leisure activities.