PHILADELPHIA — The Federal Transit Administration will play a part in the investigation of a recent rash of incidents involving Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority trolleys and buses, WTXF-TV reports.
SEPTA vehicles were involved in five incidents in a week in late July, including a collision of two buses that killed a 72-year-old woman and an incident in which a trolley derailed, hit an SUV, and ran through the wall of a building dating to 1766 [see “Three injured as SEPTA trolley derails …,” Trains News Wire, July 28, 2023].
The level of FTA involvement is not yet clear. A SEPTA representative told WTXF it does not expect the FTA to take control of the investigation, but it could create a safety plan that SEPTA must follow or face penalties such as the loss of federal funding.
Issues in the Boston area with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority led the FTA to issue two sets of safety directives last year [see “Federal directives MBTA to address safety issues,” News Wire, June 15, 2022], and “DOT agency issues safety directives to MBTA,” Aug. 31, 2022]. The MBTA is still working to fulfill those directives.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the trolley derailment, while SEPTA is currently conducting separate internal investigations into the other four incidents, the Philadelphia Tribune reports. Those are expected to take two to three more weeks to complete. The Transport Workers Union, which represents more than 5,000 SEPTA workers, is also conducting its own investigation.
It is too soon to tell, however, it looks like FTA will issue a safety plan full of directives that SEPTA has got to follow.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün