FTA Transit Safety Management Guidebook

The complete transit safety management and performance measurement guidebook.

Transit ridership continued its 5‐year record increase reaching 10.7 billion trips in 2008, the highest level of ridership in 52 years. Meanwhile, the public transportation fatality rate, expressed in fatalities per 100 million passenger‐ miles, has leveled‐off in recent years. Therefore the statistical reality is that as the industry grows and the passenger‐miles increase, the total numbers of fatalities and serious accidents will also increase. While the current rates of fatalities and accidents are low compared to other modes of surface transportation, any appreciable increase in the number of fatalities would be detrimental to an industry that for years has prided itself on its safety record.  To avoid this situation, the transit industry needs to reduce the current low accident and fatality rates even further.

It is widely accepted that most public transportation accidents result from a combination of human, technical and…