Dive Brief:
- The Federal Transit Administration published a new rule Oct. 31 to improve safety for transit workers who work on or around tracks. The regulation requires certain transit agencies to establish a worker protection program approved by their state safety oversight agency by Dec. 2, 2025.
- The rule applies to transit agencies covered by the FTA’s State Safety Oversight program, which applies to public transportation systems not subject to Federal Railroad Administration regulations. Safety oversight agencies exist in 28 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
- Under the new rule, transit agencies must create or update safety manuals, establish training programs, provide job safety briefings and protect lone workers on or around tracks.
Dive Insight:
The FTA said in an Oct. 29 press release that 29 transit workers died and 144 were seriously injured performing track work between Jan. 1, 2008, and June 30, 2024.
“These transit workers perform vital and often dangerous work to ensure that subways, light rail and streetcars stay moving so that millions of Americans can get to work or school or wherever they need to be,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at an Oct. 29 press conference. “This rule is coming after too many tragedies.”
In 2021, the FTA asked transit personnel, researchers, vendors and transit users for input on ways to protect transit workers. Last year, the agency looked to strengthen the regulations relating to state safety oversight of rail transit.
“Most future tragedies can be prevented by addressing day-to-day risk,” said FTA Deputy Administrator Veronica Vanterpool during the press conference. She cited hazards including high-voltage electrical infrastructure such as third rails and overhead wires, trains operating too fast where workers are on the tracks, high noise levels that can block audible warnings and tight clearances in tunnels. “We owe it to our workforce to provide a workplace free of hazards,” she said.
