Transit Safety Risk Assessment Methodologies

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published a final rule for Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans under 49 CFR 673.  This final rule requires States and certain operators of public transportation systems that receive Federal financial assistance under 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53 to develop Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans based on the Safety Management System approach.  Operators of public transportation systems will be required to implement the safety plans.  The development and implementation of safety plans will help ensure that public transportation systems are safe nationwide. The adoption of a Safety Management System (SMS) foundational approach across all new safety rules, regulations, and accompanying technical guidance documents calls for a need to research new and innovative state-of-the-practice methodologies for developing robust and consistent safety risk assessment methodologies for improving transit industry safety (See 49 CFR 673).  While the industry has relied on the Military Standard 882 frequency versus a severity risk matrix approach, there are now more advanced methodologies - such as exposure rate models and the European-based Common Safety Method - that warrant consideration. This synthesis will identify the use of new transit safety risk assessment approaches and methodologies, including international models.  A benchmark of safety risk assessment methodologies currently used by other transportation modes shall also be highlighted.  Case studies would be used to present the applicability and effectiveness of these new methodologies. The synthesis would document enhanced, more effective safety risk assessment models consistent with overall SMS industry approach.  New methodologies may also help address current issues such as lack of consistency and awareness in conducting effective safety risk assessments across a diverse spectrum of transit agencies.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5007
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $45000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project J-07, Topic SA-51

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Transit Cooperative Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20001

  Federal Transit Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Garcia-Colberg, Mariela

• Start Date: 20200831
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Literature reviews; Methodology; Public transit; Risk assessment; Safety management; Transit safety
• Identifier Terms: Safety Management Systems
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01739769
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project J-07, Topic SA-51
• Files: TRB, RiP
• Created Date: May 25 2020 3:04PM