Operating public transit safely is of the utmost importance to every transit agency. Information on injuries and accidents is collected by the RTAs and reported to both the FTA and MassDOT and monitored by these agencies. This section includes the measures and targets of the 12 RTAs deemed full reporters by the FTA. Three RTAs (FRTA, NRTA, and VTA) have different reporting requirements are not included here.
On July 19, 2018, FTA published the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) Final Rule, which requires certain operators of public transportation systems that receive federal funds under FTA’s Urbanized Area Formula Grants to develop safety plans that include the processes and procedures to implement Safety Management Systems (SMS). MassDOT worked closely with the RTAs to generate the targets required by the PTASP Final Rule and publish those plans by December 31, 2020.
Injuries
All transit injuries represent the annual number of injuries that resulted from unintentional contact with transit vehicles or property. An injury is recorded for each person who either received medical attention on the premises or was transported away to receive medical care. Injuries are reported for the RTAs for each calendar year. In addition to the total number of injuries, we also include injuries normalized per 100,000 unlinked passenger trips (UPT), and injuries normalized per 1,000,000 vehicle revenue miles.
Fixed-Route Service
There were a total of 36 Fixed-Route Service injuries in CY22 compared to 15 in CY21. From CY21 to CY22, seven RTAs saw increases in the number of injuries, three RTAs maintained the same number, and two RTAs saw decreases in injuries. Four RTAs had zero fixed-route service injuries in CY22.
Paratransit
Among all RTAs, there were two reported Paratransit injuries in CY22, a 50% decrease from CY21. Ten RTAs reported no paratransit injuries in CY22.
Injury Rates per 1 Million VRM
Injuries are normalized to 1,000,000 VRM (Vehicle Revenue Miles) to account for coverage size differences between RTAs. VRM are the number of miles traveled by transit vehicles in revenue service, as reported by the system for the fiscal year. For Fixed Route Bus service from CY21 to CY22, eight RTAs had increases in the normalized Injury Rate, two remained the same, and two RTAs had decreases. For Paratransit service from CY21 to CY22, two RTAs had increases in the normalized Injury Rate, seven remained the same, and three RTAs had decreases.
Fatalities
In CY22, all RTAs reported zero reported fatalities for both paratransit and fixed-route bus service.
Safety Events
The safety events measure shows the number of collision events that occur within a calendar year for each RTA. MassDOT tracks both actual safety events and safety events normalized to 1,000,000 VRM to account for coverage size differences between RTAs. VRM are the number of miles traveled by transit vehicles in revenue service, as reported by the system for the fiscal year.
Fixed Route Service
In CY22, four RTAs reported 0 safety events for their fixed-route service.
Paratransit
In CY22, eight 4 RTAs reported zero safety events for their paratransit service.
