Today, FTA issued Safety Advisory 24-2: Street Running Rail Vehicle Collisions to reduce fatalities and injuries caused by street-running rail vehicle collisions. 

With this safety advisory, FTA is asking State Safety Oversight Agencies (SSOA) to direct the Rail Transit Agencies (RTA) in their jurisdictions to analyze the risk of street-running rail collisions in their systems through existing Safety Risk Management (SRM) processes. SSOAs will have until December 26, 2024, (30 days from issuance) to notify RTAs of this request. Then, SSOAs should obtain and review completed safety risk assessments and any proposed safety risk mitigations from RTAs. SSOAs should submit this information to FTA by May 26, 2025 (180 days from issuance).

FTA is hosting a webinar on Thursday, December 12, 2024, to provide SSOAs, RTAs and other interested stakeholders with an overview of the safety advisory and answer questions as time allows. Please register here.

Additionally, the safety advisory website includes links to several resources to assist RTAs with their risk assessments, including FTA’s Rail Transit Roadway/Pedestrian Grade Crossing Exploratory Report, SRM resources in the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans Technical Assistance Center, American Public Transportation Association standards and more.