The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently awarded the University of South Florida a $500,000 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act research grant.
Funding will be used to identify safety risks for transit workers and riders and determine the most effective strategies to minimize them. Work is expected to take approximately 18 months.
The agency will use the information to develop public transportation safety measures and improve transit system safety.
“Through the pandemic and indeed every day, the value of American transit workers is proven over and over again,” FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said. “As a nation who depends on them, we owe it to our frontline transit workers to ensure that when they go to work, they can expect to come home safe and sound. Transit riders also deserve to know that safety is the North Star of every transit agency, and that they will continue riding the safest mode of transportation in America.”
The grant is the first phase of FTA’s Transit Worker and Rider Safety Best Practices initiative.
During the second phase, technical and financial support will be provided to the transit industry and supportive organizations to pursue approaches that reduce safety hazards affecting workers, riders, and transit systems.