Comments for Proposed GD on Assaults on Transit Workers Due Soon

On Dec. 20, FTA issued for public comment a proposed General Directive (GD) on Required Actions Regarding Assaults on Transit Workers. The comment period closes Feb. 20.

This proposed GD:

• Requires each public transit agency subject to the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans (PTASP) regulation to conduct a safety risk assessment related to assaults on their workers using the Safety Management Systems (SMS) processes outlined in their Agency Safety Plan;
• Requires each agency to identify safety risk mitigations or strategies based on its safety risk assessment. As required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, each transit agency serving a large urbanized area must involve the joint labor-management Safety Committee when identifying safety risk mitigations; and
• Requires each agency to provide information to FTA on how they are assessing, mitigating, and monitoring the safety risk related to assaults on transit workers within 60 days of issuance of the final GD.

This information will help FTA understand how transit worker assault safety risk assessments and safety risk mitigations vary throughout the industry, informing the agency of further activities that may be effective in reducing the risk of assaults on transit workers. See Passenger Transport’s previous post for more.