Thursday, November 7, 2013

FTA Seeks Input on Public Transit Safety

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is seeking input from stakeholders on several issues related to the FTA's Public Transportation Safety Program and requirements of the National Transit Asset Management System. The request for input comes in advance of proposed rulemaking.

The National Transit Asset Management System was authorized by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), a transportation reauthorization bill signed into law in July 2012.

FTA is specifically seeking responses to the following questions related to public transit safety standards:

  • In addition to the American Public Transportation Association's voluntary consensus standards, what other sources of safety performance standards for transit vehicles are available that FTA should consider?
  • What criteria should be used to identify, prioritize and develop performance-based vehicle standards?
  • To what degree should existing voluntary consensus standards be considered or used in developing and implementing a performance-based vehicle standards regime?
  • Specific to rail vehicle standards, what areas or categories of standards would yield the greatest safety improvement if required as a minimum safety performance standard for the public transportation industry? What areas or categories of standards would yield the most cost-effective safety improvements?
  • Specific to bus vehicle standards, what areas or categories of standards would yield the greatest safety improvement if required as minimum safety performance standards for the public transportation industry? What areas or categories of vehicle standards would yield the most cost-effective safety improvements?
All comments must be received by Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014 for consideration, and must include either the relevant docket number (FTA-2013-0030) or RIN number (2123-AB20, 2132-AB07) but not both. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov, by fax to 202-493-2251, or by hand-delivery, courier or mail to the address below:

Docket Operations
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
West Building Room W12-140
Washington, DC 20590-0001

Visit the U.S. Government Federal Register for the entire advance notice of proposed rulemaking.