Washington — The Federal Transit Administration wants to know how it can better protect transit workers.
According to a Sept. 28 press release, FTA is seeking public comment on “transit worker safety mitigations, including potential minimum safety standards for Roadway Worker Protection programs and operator assault prevention” from transit industry personnel, researchers, contractors, government entities, transit users and other interested parties.
“Safety is paramount in the transit industry,” FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said in the release, “and the Biden-Harris administration is committed to ensuring we are doing everything we can to ensure approaches for the workers who make our transit systems possible.”
In 2019, FTA established an internal Safety Risk Management process to identify, assess, mitigate and monitor safety concerns in the transit industry, according to a Request for Information published in the Sept. 24 Federal Register.
“The SRM process helps FTA determine effective and appropriate risk mitigations, such as technical assistance or regulatory responses, to support transit agencies in cultivating safer environments for their workers and riders,” the release states.
The deadline to comment on the RFI is Nov. 23.
