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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.
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On June 24 and June 25, 2024, FTA held a TRACS meeting at the U.S. DOT Headquarters. The committee’s focus areas under the current TRACS charter include reducing bus collisions, cybersecurity and data management and advancing worker and rider safety. Subcommittees representing these three areas have been meeting monthly since TRACS’s January 2023 kickoff. TRACS comprises a diverse cross-section of the transit industry, including large and small bus and rail operators, state safety oversight agencies, labor unions, academia, trade associations and other industry representatives who will provide recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation and the FTA Acting Administrator regarding transit safety and related issues.
In June 2024, FTA launched a new cooperative agreement with Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) to provide technical assistance to state operation lifesaver programs, transit agencies and the general public regarding safety best practices to prevent fatalities and injuries at and around transit rail grade crossings. On July 1, 2024, OLI announced that the application period opened for its competitive Rail Transit Safety Education Grants. A total of $190,000 is available in grant funding for transit agencies and government entities that provide transit service to conduct rail transit safety education and public awareness initiatives. Applications are due by September 1, 2024 and grant awards will be announced by October 15, 2024. For additional details, contact Wende Corcoran at wcorcoran@oli.org.
FTA’s Drug and Alcohol Program has the authority and responsibility for issuing regulations to combat prohibited drug use and alcohol misuse in the transportation industry. The program issues a quarterly newsletter with updates on important topics for the industry. You can read the July 2024 Drug & Alcohol Regulation Update newsletter here.
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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:
CTAA Small Urban Network (SUN) Conference
August 14–16, 2024 | Alexandria, VA
APTA TRANSform
September 29–October 2, 2024 | Anaheim, CA
AASHTO Transit Management Winter Meeting
October 8–9, 2024 | Salt Lake City, UT
AASHTO Safety Summit and Peer Exchange
October 15–17, 2024 | Houston, TX
National Transit Workforce Conference
November 11–12, 2024 | Baltimore, MD
Ohio Needs Transit Conference & OPTA Expo
November 18–20, 2024 | Columbus, UT
APTA Safety and Risk Management Seminar
December 8–11, 2024 | Atlanta, GA
Save the Dates: SSO Quarterly Call
August 21, 2024 | 3:00–4:30 pm ET | Virtual
November 20, 2024 | 3:00–4:30 pm ET | Virtual
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