December 2022

The Federal Transit Administration’s Transit Safety and Oversight Spotlight is a monthly newsletter about safety and oversight topics, events, training and guidance that affect the public transportation industry.

FTA at Recent Transit Industry Events

During November and December, FTA was happy to have the opportunity to participate in transit industry events across the nation.

AVAILABLE NOW: New FTA Research Reports

FTA recently published several research reports to help inform transit agencies’ safety decisions, including recommendations that may support agencies’ operations.

• Research Report and Findings: Specifications and Guidelines for Rail Tunnel Design, Construction, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation

• Research Report and Findings: Emergency Egress in Rail Transit Tunnels

• Research Report and Findings: Crash Energy Management for Heavy Rail Vehicles, Light Rail Vehicles, and Streetcars

• Research Report and Findings: Light Rail Technology Scan and Case Studies

FTA Announces 2022–2024 TRACS Members

FTA is pleased to announce 24 members to serve on the agency’s federal advisory committee, the Transit Advisory Committee for Safety (TRACS), for the next two years. These members represent the transit industry and hail from diverse geographic regions with varying expertise and backgrounds.

Data Spotlight: Bus Collisions with Non-Transit Motor Vehicles

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 bus transit vehicle (BTV) collisions with non-transit motor vehicles (BTV-to-vehicle collisions) from January 2017 to June 2022.

Employee Safety Reporting Program Part 3: Encouraging Worker Participation

In the November 2022 Spotlight, we reviewed methods for implementing an Employee Safety Reporting Program (ESRP). As you establish the procedures for your program, it is equally important to encourage participation by addressing organizational, working environment or individual barriers that could deter workers from reporting.

Available Safety Training and Resources

Safety training plays an important role in creating safer transit systems across America. The following list summarizes available safety training and resources offered through FTA and its partners. Training resources include:

• FTA Safety Training Page — outlines training requirements and available training courses.
• FTA-Sponsored Training Courses — provides information on FTA-sponsored FY2023 training delivered by the Transportation Safety Institute (TSI).
• TSI Course Schedule — includes TSI safety training courses for transit personnel to support FTA grantees subject to the Public Transportation Safety Certification Training Program (PTSCTP) regulation with initial training and refresher training requirements. In addition to PTSCTP Bus and Rail courses, trainings include courses for Bus, Rail, general transit safety and transit crime prevention and emergency management.
• Enhanced Transit Safety and Crime Prevention Initiative Related Trainings — offers virtual Assault Awareness and Prevention (AAP) and Violence in the Transit Workplace (VTW) courses, provided by the National Transit Institute (NTI). The AAP and VTW courses support the FTA Enhanced Transit Safety and Crime Prevention Initiative.

Upcoming Events and Webinars

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting
January 9, 2023 | 10:15am-12:00pm ET | Washington, D.C.
January 10, 2023 | 1:30pm-3:15pm ET |  Washington, D.C.

Human Trafficking Awareness Month Webinar
January 18, 2023| 2:00pm-3:30pm ET | Virtual

PTASP Webinar: Making the Most of your Employee Safety Reporting Program Wednesday, January 25, 2023 | 2:00pm-3:30pm ET | Virtual

Drug and Alcohol Program National Conference
March 14–16, 2023 | San Diego, CA