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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Safety & Security Time Series (Threshold Adjusted)

Update Effective April 2023: The underlying database schema used to produce this file has changed. The specific impacts to the file are: 

  1. Service Data fields used to produce event rates have been changed to use aggregates of calendar year data reported to the NTD on a monthly basis instead of fiscal year data reported on an annual basis. This is to align the reporting periods used in the file and allow for more precise calculation of rates (i.e., on the "Summary" tab).
  2. Train Revenue Miles, Passenger Miles Traveled, and related metrics have been removed from the file. These fields are not collected on a monthly basis. Please note that this impacts the number of columns present in each of the tabs containing NTD data.

This time series combines Major and Non-Major event data reported to the NTD. It also makes the following adjustments to the scope of Safety & Security (S&S) events included in the file to prevent a large imbalance in event accounts that are due to changes in reporting thresholds.

  2002 - 2010 2011 - 2014 2015 - 2023
Major Events All Included Excludes:
Yard Derailments and Rail Grade Crossing Collisions not meeting other Major Event reporting threshold
Non-major Events Excludes: Security Events All Included (Non-Major Security Events not reported to the NTD)

For more information about current thresholds, see the most current S&S Quick Reference Guide from this page

Other Important Notes

  • This file will be updated periodically by FTA to include data for subsequent months, and to incorporate revisions to prior months in the calendar year made by the transit properties. This may include revisions to data from the previous calendar year, especially in the first several months of each new calendar year, as CEO Certifications are ongoing. The Time Series counts injuries and fatalities associated with Suicide events in the Suicide column and recently updated the file to perform the same adjustment for Attempted Suicide events as well. These classifications are made to retain consistent data definitions from year to year and there are no net changes in total number of events, injuries or fatalities as a result.
  • FTA is now releasing on a monthly basis the source datasets for this file for all events starting in 2014. This file provides a record for each Major and Non-Major Event reported to the NTD with some details about the event. Please find the datasets on the DOT Open Data Catalog website.
  • From 2016-Present, the data available in the NTD regarding Suicides is more precise; people who are harmed in a suicide-related event but were not identified as the person attempting suicide are classified according to the reported Person Type (e.g., Passenger, Employee, etc.). In years before 2016, such individuals are counted as Suicide or Attempted Suicide injuries due to reporting requirements. Data users should consider this level of precision when using Suicide column data. 
  • The NTD categorizes Non-Transit Collisions, events which do not involve transit vehicles, as Not Otherwise Classified (NOC) event type. The 2008-Most Current Year tabs do not include these events in the Collisions column and instead include these events in the respective NOC column. This results in a net decrease in collisions and an equal increase in NOC safety events compared to what was reported but does not affect total number of events, injuries or fatalities.

Keywords: non-major, major, event, collision, derailment, fire, security, noc, passenger, people waiting or leaving, bicyclist, pedestrian, in cross, not in crossing, operator, employee, other, vehicle occupant, other, trespasser, suicide, safety statistics, security statistics

This document has not been certified as 508 compliant.
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