[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 104 (Wednesday, May 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34917-34919]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11551]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

[Docket No. FTA-2023-0010]


National Public Transportation Safety Plan

AGENCY:  Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION:  Notice of availability of proposed National Public 
Transportation Safety Plan; request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) invites public 
comment on a proposed update to the National Public Transportation 
Safety Plan (National Safety Plan). The proposed National Safety Plan 
would rescind and replace the plan that FTA published in January 2017. 
This new version of the National Safety Plan, like the version before 
it, is intended to guide the national effort to manage safety risk in 
our nation's public transportation systems. It lays out a performance-
based approach to reduce

[[Page 34918]]

injuries and fatalities on transit systems under FTA's safety 
jurisdiction. This proposed update to the plan also supports the 
USDOT's long-term goal of reaching zero fatalities on America's 
roadways, as presented in the January 2022 National Roadway Safety 
Strategy, by adding safety performance criteria for vehicular 
collisions and providing voluntary standards for bus transit. Pursuant 
to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the proposed update to the plan 
also establishes performance measures for Public Transportation Agency 
Safety Plan (PTASP) risk reduction programs.

DATES:  Comments should be filed by July 31, 2023. FTA will consider 
comments received after that date to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES:  You may send comments, identified by docket number FTA-
2023-0010, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for sending comments.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 
5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number (FTA-2023-0010). All comments received will be posted 
without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Public 
Participation'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 
this document.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For program matters, contact Arnebya 
Belton, Office of Transit Safety and Oversight, 202-366-7546 or 
[email protected]. For legal matters, contact Emily Jessup, Office 
of Chief Counsel, 202-366-8907 or [email protected]. Office hours 
are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  This notice provides a summary of the 
proposed update to the National Safety Plan. The National Safety Plan 
itself is not included in this notice; instead, the proposed update to 
the plan is posted in the docket for this notice. FTA seeks public 
comment on this proposed National Safety Plan.

Background and Overview

    Congress first directed FTA to create and implement a National 
Public Transportation Safety Plan (National Safety Plan) under the 
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act, which 
authorized a new Public Transportation Safety Program (Safety Program) 
at 49 U.S.C. 5329 (Pub. L. 112-141). The Safety Program was 
reauthorized by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act 
(Pub. L. 114-94) and again by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 
enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58).
    On February 5, 2016, FTA first published a Federal Register notice 
(81 FR 6372) seeking comment on a proposed National Safety Plan. FTA 
conducted a number of public outreach sessions and a webinar series 
related to the proposed National Safety Plan and the PTASP notice of 
proposed rulemaking that also was published in the Federal Register on 
February 5, 2016 (81 FR 6343). Subsequently, FTA published a summary of 
the final changes to the National Safety Plan and responses to comments 
in the Federal Register (82 FR 5628) and published the finalized plan 
to the docket and on FTA's website.
    Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5329(b), the National Safety Plan includes 
several elements intended to improve the safety of all public 
transportation systems that receive Federal financial assistance under 
49 U.S.C. Chapter 53. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law adds new 
elements that must be included in the National Safety Plan, including:
     Safety performance measures related to the PTASP safety 
risk reduction program;
     In consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, precautionary and reactive actions required to ensure public 
and personnel safety and health during an emergency; and
     Consideration, where appropriate, of performance-based and 
risk-based methodologies.
    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also requires that the minimum 
safety performance standards for public transportation vehicles used in 
revenue operations take into consideration, to the extent practicable, 
innovations in driver assistance technologies and driver protection 
infrastructure, where appropriate, and a reduction in visibility 
impairments that contribute to pedestrian fatalities.
    This proposed update continues to mature FTA's National Public 
Transportation Safety Program and addresses new requirements in the 
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to further advance transit safety.
    The proposed National Safety Plan is organized into the following 
three chapters:
    Chapter I Keeping Safety the Top Priority: Chapter I presents FTA's 
safety vision, strategic objectives, and an overview of FTA's National 
Public Transportation Safety Program; and provides high-level safety 
performance data related to FTA safety priorities.
    Chapter II Safety Performance Criteria: Chapter II defines safety 
performance measures for transit agencies required to establish and 
implement Agency Safety Plans under FTA's PTASP regulation.
    Chapter III Voluntary Minimum Safety Standards: Chapter III 
provides voluntary minimum safety performance standards for public 
transportation vehicles used in revenue operations and voluntary 
minimum safety standards to ensure the safe operation of public 
transportation systems, as well as recommended practices that may 
support the transit industry in assessing and mitigating safety risk 
and help improve safety performance.
    FTA is considering the development of mandatory standards for Rail 
Transit Roadway Worker Protection and Transit Worker Fitness for Duty 
through rulemaking that may supersede the voluntary minimum safety 
standards and recommended practices identified in Category A of Chapter 
III.

Voluntary Safety Standards and Recommended Practices

    The proposed National Safety Plan includes an updated list of 
voluntary minimum safety standards and recommended practices to support 
mitigation of safety risk and to improve safety performance. The list 
in the proposed National Safety Plan includes new categories beyond 
those included in the 2017 version of plan, such as transit worker 
safety, pedestrian and bicyclist safety, rail grade crossing safety, 
tunnel ventilation, and fire safety. The proposed list is more 
comprehensive than the list in 2017, incorporating the large number of 
voluntary minimum safety standards and recommended practices issued and 
identified in the intervening years. The proposed list is also 
organized into a greater number of discrete categories to

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facilitate understanding. Pursuant to the Bipartisan Infrastructure 
Law, the proposed National Safety Plan also includes precautionary and 
reactive actions to ensure public and personnel safety and health 
during an emergency. FTA coordinated with the Department of Health and 
Human Services on the list of such recommended actions.

Safety Performance Measures

    Under FTA's PTASP regulation, transit agencies must set performance 
targets based on the safety performance measures established in the 
National Safety Plan (49 CFR 673.11(a)(3)). The 2017 version of the 
National Safety Plan identified seven performance measures to support 
PTASP performance target setting. The proposed update to the National 
Safety Plan increases the number of these measures from seven to 14. 
The proposed seven new performance measures are: Collision Rate, 
Pedestrian Collision Rate, Vehicular Collision Rate, Transit Worker 
Fatality Rate, Transit Worker Injury Rate, Assaults on Transit Workers, 
and Rate of Assaults on Transit Workers. These additions are consistent 
with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's increased focus on bus 
collisions and transit worker safety.
    In addition to the measures described above, the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law directs FTA to include performance measures for the 
safety risk reduction program required under 49 U.S.C. 5329(d)(1)(I) in 
the National Safety Plan. In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5329(b)(2)(A), 
the National Safety Plan identifies eight measures required for safety 
risk reduction programs, which apply to Section 5307 recipients that 
serve an urbanized area of 200,000 or more: Major Events, Major Events 
Rate, Collisions, Collisions Rate, Injuries, Injury Rate, Assaults on 
Transit Workers, and Rate of Assaults on Transit Workers. FTA is 
proposing these measures as they align with the goals of the safety 
risk reduction program as described in FTA's PTASP notice of proposed 
rulemaking, namely reducing the number and rates of safety events and 
injuries, reducing vehicular and pedestrian safety events involving 
transit vehicles, and mitigating assaults on transit workers. FTA's 
proposal to identify Major Events, Major Event Rate; Injuries, and 
Injury Rate as performance measures addresses the safety risk reduction 
program goal of reducing the number and rates of safety events and 
injuries. Similarly, proposing Collisions and Collisions Rate as 
performance measures addresses the goal of reducing vehicular and 
pedestrian safety events and the measures of Assaults on Transit 
Workers and Rate of Assaults on Transit Workers address the reduction 
of assaults on transit workers.
    Pursuant to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, performance targets 
for the risk reduction program must be set based on a 3-year rolling 
average of NTD data. FTA recognizes that certain transit agencies may 
not yet report detailed safety event information to the NTD that 
corresponds to these performance measures. FTA proposed requirements to 
address this situation in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the PTASP 
regulation, which was published in the Federal Register on April 26, 
2023 (88 FR 25336).
    FTA also notes that some of the eight performance measures for the 
safety risk reduction program overlap with the 14 measures for all 
agencies subject to the PTASP regulation described above. Section 5307 
recipients that serve an urbanized area with a population of 200,000 or 
more may choose to use the same target for both measures, provided the 
target for the safety risk reduction program is based on a 3-year 
rolling average of NTD data.
    Performance targets for a risk reduction program at 49 U.S.C. 
5329(d)(4) are not required until FTA has finalized the National Safety 
Plan to include these performance measures. However, nothing precludes 
an Agency from implementing a risk reduction program in advance and 
updating it once the performance measures are finalized.
    In the National Safety Plan, FTA also proposes that when setting 
safety performance targets, transit agencies should use the following 
modal groups: rail, fixed route bus, and non-fixed route bus. This is 
responsive to 49 U.S.C. 5329(b)(2)(A), which requires FTA to identify 
safety performance criteria for all modes of public transportation.
    After reviewing and responding to the comments received on this 
proposed National Safety Plan, FTA will issue a final National Safety 
Plan.

Nuria I. Fernandez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2023-11551 Filed 5-30-23; 8:45 am]
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