What’s New

• On April 9, 2024, FTA published an updated version of the National Public Transportation Safety Plan. The plan serves as FTA’s primary guidance document to improve transit safety performance.
  • Federal Register Notice (PDF Download)– Read the National Safety Plan

FTA updated the National Safety Plan to address new requirements in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to continue to promote FTA’s national safety program and advance transit safety throughout the industry.

• Safety Performance Measures: The National Safety Plan identifies seven new safety performance measures for all transit providers subject to the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans (PTASP) regulation. These changes double the number of required safety performance targets that PTASP-applicable transit agencies must set for their modes of public transportation. These changes are responsive to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and increase a focus on avoiding bus collisions and promoting the safety of transit workers, including the prevention and elimination of assaults on transit workers.
• Safety Risk Reduction Programs: As directed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the National Safety Plan includes performance measures for a safety risk reduction program. The National Safety Plan identifies eight measures required for safety risk reduction programs. As required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, transit agencies receiving urban formula (Section 5307) funds and serving an urbanized area with a population of 200,000 or more must set targets for these measures based on a three-year rolling average of data the agency has reported to the National Transit Database. 
• Voluntary Minimum Safety Standards and Recommended Practices: The National Safety Plan includes an updated listing of voluntary minimum safety performance standards for public transportation vehicles used in revenue operations and voluntary minimum safety standards to ensure the safe operation of public transportation systems. It also includes recommended practices that may support the transit industry in assessing and mitigating safety risk and improving safety performance. The National Safety Plan organizes standards and recommended practices into 11 categories. 

Updates to the PTASP Regulation and National Safety Plan Webinar

FTA published the first major update to the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans (PTASP) regulation, which incorporates Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requirements to make transit safer for both transit workers and passengers. Concurrently, FTA published updates to the National Public Transportation Safety Plan (National Safety Plan), which is FTA’s primary guidance document to improve transit safety performance for systems that receive FTA funding. The webinar provided an overview of key changes to the PTASP regulation and the National Safety Plan, explained how PTASP requirements and the National Safety Plan correspond to each other and answered pre-submitted questions.

Updates to the PTASP Regulation and National Safety Plan Webinar
August 13, 2024 | Presentation | Recording