The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced Thursday it would be posting a Request for Information (RFI) to get feedback from transit riders and transit agencies to identify high-priority safety concerns so the agency can better address them.
The RFI consists of eight questions covering safety concerns on several modes of transportation, including rail, bus, and multimodal transit. Respondents are free to answer all or some of the questions.
“Safety is our highest priority, and we want to hear from our public transportation partners and the public about their transit safety concerns, especially as ridership increases on public transportation,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “This request for information will help us better understand the most important safety concerns and issues so we can improve safety and rider confidence.”
In 2019, FTA expanded its safety oversight capabilities by establishing an internal Safety Risk Management (SRM) process to identify, assess, mitigate and monitor transit industry safety concerns. The process, the FTA said, helps the agency determine risk mitigation efforts that support transit agencies in their efforts to create safer environments for their workers and riders.
The RFI asks what safety concerns the FTA should consider analyzing through the SRM process and what new and emerging safety concerns the FTA should consider addressing proactively.
The RFI is open to transit agencies and their employees, as well as riders and anyone interested in transit.
According to the posting, the RFI closes on Aug. 16, 2021.