The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently released a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting public input on potential transit worker safety mitigations.
“Safety is paramount in the transit industry, and the Biden-Harris administration is committed to ensuring we are doing everything we can to ensure approaches for the workers who make our transit systems possible,” FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said.
Input is sought from transit users, contractors, government entities, transit industry personnel, researchers, and other interested parties to make American transit safer for millions of frontline staff. Input is sought in two areas: operator assault prevention and potential minimum safety standards for Roadway Worker Protection programs.
The programs are designed to protect workers from the movement of trains and other hazards on the roadway.
There has been an increase in the rate of assaults on transit operators, from 2010 to 2020, and the rate of security events reported to the National Transit Database per passenger boarding grew 17 percent annually.
In 2019, FTA established an internal Safety Risk Management process to identify, assess, mitigate, and monitor safety concerns affecting the transit industry. This helps the agency determine effective and appropriate risk mitigations to support transit agencies create safer environments.
The RFI closes on Nov. 23.