WASHINGTON — A safety advisory issued this week by the Federal Transit Administration is asking agencies overseeing transit operators to look more closely at street-running rail operations, noting the heightened risk of incidents including fatalities.
The advisory issued on Monday, Nov. 25, notes that the number of incidents at street intersection grade crossings are about 10 times higher than at conventional grade crossings; there were 2,316 such collisions involving transit vehicles between 2015 and 2023, including 581 incidents with people (including cyclists) that led to 85 deaths and 501 injuries, and 1,735 with vehicles that led to 32 fatalities and 1,293 injuries. The fatalities increase greatly when the rail vehicle is traveling at more than 30 mph.
In response, the FTA is recommending that safety agencies that oversee public transportation operators direct those operators to analyze street-running incidents and report the resulting assessments, along with proposed and implemented mitigation actions, and requests that the resulting analyses are reported to the FTA’s State Safety Oversight Reporting system. The FTA is also recommending that such analysis be conducted on a regular basis going forward.
