Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

In this NPRM, FTA requires that transit agencies receiving funds under 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53 and not regulated by another agency, develop and implement a Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (Safety Plan). This NPRM establishes the core components that Safety Plans must contain, including methods to identify, evaluate, and minimize safety risk. Among other minimum components, Safety Plans must include training programs for personnel responsible for safety, and in certain cases, emergency preparedness and response plans. FTA requires that covered transit agencies develop their Safety Plans using a four-pillared Safety Management System (SMS) approach to ensure agencies’ unique needs are met.

With the passage of MAP-21, Congress provided FTA the much needed authority to regulate safety across our nation’s transit systems. Codified at 49 USC 5329, the mandate requires FTA to develop a comprehensive Public Transportation Safety Program intended to improve the safety performance of transit systems. This NPRM seeks to implement several components of that Program by formally adopting Safety Management Systems (SMS) as the foundation of FTA’s safety oversight and regulations; establishing procedures for FTA to conduct inspections and audits of equipment, facilities, and operations; creating procedures for the agency to make enforcement actions against noncomplying transit agencies; and setting the framework for the National Public Transportation Safety Plan (National Safety Plan).

Washington, D.C. – Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) President Edward Wytkind issues the following statement in reaction to Senate confirmation of Victor Mendez as Deputy Secretary of Transportation and Peter Rogoff as Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy: “On behalf of transportation labor, I congratulate Victor Mendez for his confirmation by the Senate as the […]