Transit Safety & Oversight (TSO)
Overview
FTA administers a national transit safety program and compliance oversight process to advance safe and reliable transit service throughout the United States. The Office of Transit Safety and Oversight helps to increase transit safety through:
- Policy development
- Hazard investigation
- Data collection
- Risk analysis
- Oversight programs
- Information sharing
What's New
Safety Advisory 25-1: Reducing Rail Trespassing and Suicide Events
FTA issued a safety advisory and provided resources to support transit agencies with reducing the rate of rail trespassing and suicide events. FTA recommends that State Safety Oversight Agencies direct the Rail Transit Agencies in their jurisdictions to assess risks and identify strategies to reduce these types of events.
Upcoming 2026 FTA Drug and Alcohol Program National Conference
Save the date for the 19th Annual FTA Drug and Alcohol Program National Conference, taking place April 14–16, 2026, in Portland, OR.
This three-day conference is designed for Drug and Alcohol Program Managers and other transit officials. The workshop will offer sessions to foster a better understanding of the FTA Prevention of Alcohol Misuse and Prohibited Drug Use in Transit Operations (49 CFR Part 655) and USDOT Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs (49 CFR Part 40).
The conference is free of charge, and registration will open in March 2026. Check FTA’s Drug and Alcohol Program web page for updates.
2025 Cybersecurity Awareness Month
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and in recognition, FTA hosted a webinar that provided an overview of cybersecurity event reporting and shared available resources including a demo of FTA's Cybersecurity Assessment Tool for Transit (CATT), and the Transit Cybersecurity Framework Community Profile.
Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at 1:00 PM ET
Presentation | Recording
Rail Transit Roadway Worker Protection Rule Webinars
Last fall, FTA published the Rail Transit Roadway Worker Protection (RWP) final rule, requiring rail transit agencies to implement an RWP program to protect transit workers who work on or around the tracks. View the webinar presentations and recordings to learn more about RWP program implementation.
- Street Running and Small Systems
- Wednesday, October 1, 2025
- Presentation | Recording
- Training and Qualification Program Best Practices
- Wednesday, October 8, 2025
- Presentation | Recording
Two-Hour Safety Event Notification Guide
The FTA’s State Safety Oversight (SSO) regulation establishes definitions and minimum notification thresholds for safety events. The SSO final rule defines a “safety event” and requires a rail transit agency (RTA) to notify its State Safety Oversight Agency (SSOA) and the FTA within two hours of any safety event that meets certain thresholds. This Two-Hour Notification Guide is designed to help RTAs identify those events and notify FTA. This document updates prior guidance, issued on September 24, 2021, to incorporate the changes adopted in FTA’s SSO final rule, which published on October 18, 2024.
Rail Transit Trespass Prevention Outreach Campaign
Trespassing incidents continue to pose a serious safety challenge across rail transit systems nationwide. FTA is raising awareness to help transit agencies and communities stay safe around rail transit. Help spread the word—Be Train Safe. Stay off the Tracks.
Responses to General Directive 24-1: Required Actions Regarding Assaults on Transit Workers
On January 16, 2025, FTA published Responses to General Directive 24-1: Required Actions Regarding Assaults on Transit Workers. FTA's initial analysis of agency responses shows more than two-thirds of transit agencies determined that safety risk mitigations are necessary to reduce the risk of assaults on transit workers, and these agencies are working to roll out a variety of mitigation measures.
Safety Advisory 24-2: Street Running Rail Vehicle Collisions
Safety Advisory 24-2 aims to reduce fatalities and injuries caused by street-running rail vehicle collisions. With this safety advisory, FTA is asking state safety oversight agencies (SSOA) to direct the rail transit agencies (RTA) in their jurisdictions to analyze the risk of street-running rail collisions in their systems. SSOAs are the state-level organizations responsible for direct safety oversight of RTAs.
Rail Transit Roadway Worker Protection Final Rule
On October 31, FTA published its first standards-based safety regulation. The Rail Transit Roadway Worker Protection regulation includes minimum standards to improve safety for transit workers who work on or around the tracks. FTA hosted a webinar on November 19 to provide more information about the RWP regulation.