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FTA is proud to partner with the Federal Railroad Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the annual “Stop. Trains Can’t” campaign. The campaign runs from September 12–December 14, 2022 to promote rail safety awareness near rail grade crossings and reminds drivers of the precautions they must take: Drivers should always obey signs, slow down, look both ways down the track and listen before crossing.
Rail Safety Week Outreach
This year’s Rail Safety Week, which ran from September 19–25, aimed to help raise awareness about rail safety and empower the public to make safe decisions around trains and tracks. This annual event is spearheaded by Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), who partners with rail safety organizations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Applications Open for Operation Lifesaver Inc. Rail Transit Safety Education Grants
On September 9, 2022, Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) announced it is accepting applications for its competitive Rail Transit Safety Education Grants. OLI is a non-profit organization focused on rail safety education to help prevent collisions, injuries and fatalities on and around railroad tracks and highway-rail grade crossings. The application deadline is Monday, October 17, 2022.
FTA Participation in Recent Transit Industry Events
FTA spoke at the Substance Abuse Program Administrators Association Conference on August 24 and the Washington State Public Transportation Conference on August 30.
FTA Publishes Transit Bus Accident Investigations—Background Research Report
FTA published the Transit Bus Accident Investigations—Background Research Report that provides research in support of FTA’s Effective Practices in Transit Bus Accident Investigations Report. This report looks at each component of the Safety Management System (SMS) framework which provides a proactive approach to preventing accidents.
FTA Publishes Medical Fitness for Duty and Fatigue Risk Management Report
The FTA Standards Development Program: Medical Fitness for Duty and Fatigue for Risk Management report assesses current standards and identifies gaps in practices for fatigue risk management, hours of service for transit workers, route and personnel scheduling, medical examination certifications, testing for sleep disorders and training.
Reminder: Updates to Agency Safety Plans to Comply with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Requirements
Most of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law changes to the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) requirements apply to transit agencies based on whether a transit agency receives Federal assistance under the Urbanized Area Formula Program (Section 5307) and the size of the urbanized area (UZA) it serves:
- Small UZA: a population of 50,000 to 199,999
- Large UZA: a population of 200,00 or more
Transit agencies can identify the UZAs they serve through data reported to the National Transit Database (NTD). The 2020 Annual Database Federal Funding Allocation file presents the latest available data on UZAs served and their population size.
Data Spotlight: Rail Transit Safety, January 2017–March 2022
Reviewing the national safety data presented below may help transit agencies analyze safety hazards in their systems and establish safety performance targets as a part of an Agency Safety Plan. This month’s spotlight covers National Transit Database (NTD) fatality and injury data from rail transit agencies (RTAs) under FTA safety jurisdiction from January 2017 to March 2022.
Registration is open for Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) safety training courses for transit personnel. These courses also support FTA grantees subject to the Public Transportation Safety Certification Training Program (PTSCTP) regulation with initial training and refresher training requirements. All rail PTSCTP courses are delivered virtually.
The FY2023 TSI Training Schedule was recently published. General registration for FY23 courses opened on Thursday, September 1, 2022.
NTI Virtual AAP and VTW Courses
The National Transit Institute (NTI) offers virtual Assault Awareness and Prevention (AAP) and Violence in the Transit Workplace (VTW) courses. The AAP and VTW courses support the FTA Enhanced Transit Safety and Crime Prevention Initiative to provide information and resources to help transit agencies address and prevent crime on their systems and protect transit workers and riders. Please contact NTI at 848-932-1700 or nti_info@nti.rutgers.edu with any questions. For questions about FTA safety training offerings, please contact FTASafetyPromotion@dot.gov.
APTA TRANSform Conference
October 9-12, 2022 | Seattle, WA
FTA Joint State Safety Oversight and Rail Transit Agency Workshop
October 25-27, 2022 | Washington, DC Hybrid
FRA Rail Share
November 29-30, 2022 | St. Louis, MO
Save the Date: SSO Quarterly Calls
November 16, 2022 | 3:00–4:30 pm ET | Virtual
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