WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration, addressing a 120% increase in assaults against transit workers between 2013 and 2021, has issued a final version of its directive requiring transit agencies to assess and address the risk of such assaults on workers in transit vehicles and at facilities.
The agency’s General Directive 24-1, issued Wednesday, covers more than 700 of the nation’s largest agencies, those subject to the FTA’s Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans. Transit systems covered by those plans receive funds under the FTA Urbanized Area Formula Grants or have rail operations subject to the State Safety Oversight program.
“Over the past decade, we’ve seen a tragic and unacceptable rise in verbal and physical assaults on the men and women who are critical in providing a transportation lifeline for millions of people,” said Polly Trottenberg, deputy transportation secretary, in a press release. “That’s why USDOT and the FTA are directing more than 700 of the largest transit agencies across the nation to put a stop to it – and we are holding them accountable.”
Along with conducting a risk assessment outlined under the Agency Safety Plan, the directive requires agencies to identify methods to address any risks identified by that assessment; must, for agencies serving areas with a population of 200,000 or more, involve the joint labor-management safety committee in developing those mitigation plans; and must provide information to the FTA within 90 days on the risks it has identified, how it will address them, and how it will monitor those risks.
“No American should go to work and worry they will not return home safely,” FTA Deputy Administrator Veronica Vanterpool said. “That is particularly true for the transit workers who were valuable frontline workers in our nation’s time of need. … This is just one step as FTA seeks to improve transit worker safety. We will continue to take action to ensure that our nation’s transit workers are safe and secure while running our nation’s trains, buses, and transit facilities.”
The FTA had released a proposed version of the directive late last year [see “FTA directive seeks to address assaults …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 20, 2023]. Other recent safety actions included a proposal for the first national standards for workers performaning maintenance on rail transit systems [see “FTA proposes rules for track worker safety,” News Wire, March 22, 2024].
As long as people physically assault workers are not prosecuted, and put in prison, these attacks will continue, with that being said, transit workers need to be trained, and have the understanding, verbal assualts will happen, you can’t lock up someone just because they said something you didn’t like, they have to have a very thick skin being a transit worker, from a retired Cleveland RTA train operator.
I’d like to see a breakdown of locations where all the physical assualt is occurring. I suspect its mainly in certain metropolitan districts, especially those that don’t require or set low bail. As for verbal “assualt”, unless there is a threat of bodily harm there’s not much you can do legally.
James, it doesn’t say Denver is the largest system. It said the NATION’S (plural) largest transit systems must assess and address risks.
Denver does not have the largest public transportation system.
Start with New York City transit and then many after that
Dublin Area Rapid Transit cars have: “Report anti-social behavior” warning posters prominently display in every car along with a phone number. I also noticed two DART security officers at every station along the way. Maybe this would be a better solution.
An example of why we need to shut down the federal government. Assaulting a transit worker is illegal in all fifty states and in D.C. All of those jurisdictions have law enforcement agencies.
We don’t need to go that far, Charles, but we do need to have people with brains that realize there is one thing in that statement that can NOT practically be done, and that is this line right here: “No American should go to work and worry they will not return home safely,”, and the reason is not workplace violence or assault on the job(which can happen in ANY job in America). but because you could also die while going to work or coming home from work or while on lunch from other than assualt. Secondly, the verbal assualt part is just stupid, it’s the thinning of the American skin that people get offended or “hurt” by verbal assualt. We really should be teaching children the old adage: “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”, honestly, if you make yourself mentally resilient to verbal assualt people can say anything to you and it won’t bother you one bit.