Paulina Orchard Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

slide1. Paulina Orchard Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Safety Updates March 28, 2022 Director, Office of System Safety
Office of Transit Safety and Oversight
Federal Transit Administration<br>
slide2. Agenda<br>
slide3. Updates to FTA’s Safety Program The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law amends requirements for FTA’s existing Public Transportation Safety Program, including:

National Public Transportation Safety Plan
Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans (PTASP)
State Safety Oversight (SSO) Program<br>
slide4. Impact on Transit Requirements for… Requirements for…<br>
slide5. National Public Transportation Safety Plan<br>
slide6. National Public Transportation Safety Plan The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires FTA to update its National Safety Plan to:
Establish safety performance measures for all modes of public transportation related to new risk reduction program requirements for certain transit agencies
Update safety standards
Include precautionary and reactive actions required to ensure public and personnel safety and health during an emergency
Consider, where appropriate, use of performance-based and risk-based methodologies<br>
slide7. Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans<br>
slide8. Dear Colleague Letter FTA issued a Dear Colleague Letter on February 17, 2022
The letter outlines FTA's expectations for transit agencies to address Bipartisan     
Infrastructure Law requirements
related to the Public Transportation
Agency Safety Plan (PTASP)
requirements 
Visit www.transit.dot.gov/BIL for a 
copy of this letter<br>
slide9. Engaging Frontline Workers The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires agencies serving an urbanized area with a population of fewer than 200,000 (small UZA) must develop their Agency Safety Plan in cooperation with frontline employee representatives
Section 5307 recipients serving a UZA
with a population of 200,000 or more
(large UZA) to create safety
committees comprised of equal
numbers of management
representatives and frontline employee 
representatives<br>
slide10. Safety Committees The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires transit agencies that receive Section 5307 funding and serve a large UZA to create safety committees
This committee is responsible for:
Identifying and recommending risk-based mitigations or strategies necessary to reduce the likelihood and severity of consequences identified through the agency’s safety risk assessment
Identifying mitigations or strategies that may be ineffective, inappropriate, or were not implemented as intended
Identifying safety deficiencies for purposes of continuous improvement
Approving an Agency Safety Plan that complies with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requirements and any updates to the Agency Safety Plan
Establishing performance targets for the agency’s risk reduction program (not required until FTA has updated the National Public Transportation Safety Plan)<br>
slide11. Additional Safety Enhancements The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires transit agencies to address strategies to minimize exposure to infectious diseases
It also requires transit agencies that serve large UZAs and receive 5307 funds to:
Establish risk reduction programs and targets
Set aside 0.75% of section 5307 funds for safety related projects
Increase safety training, including a requirement to include maintenance personnel in the agency’s comprehensive safety staff training program and to provide de-escalation training<br>
slide12. UZA Size/Reporter Type Breakdown Large UZA
(428 providers, 60%) Small UZA
(280 providers, 40%) Agency Count Service Provided:
Vehicle Revenue Miles (VRM) Full Reporters
(97% of VRM) 708 PTASP Applicable Agencies Small UZA
(5% of VRM) Large UZA
(95% of VRM) Full
(315, 45%) Reduced
(112, 16%) Full
(115, 16%) Reduced
(165, 23%) Full
(93% of VRM) Reduced
(2% of VRM) Reduced
(2% of VRM) Full
(3% of VRM) Data Sources
Applicable Agency Counts: PTASP-TAC
Reporter Types and VRM: NTD Report Year 2020<br>
slide13. State Safety Oversight Program<br>
slide14. SSO Requirements for FTA The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires FTA to issue a special directive to each SSOA on the development and implementation of risk-based inspection programs
FTA must assess the capability of each SSOA to conduct inspections and must enforce the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provisions
FTA must develop and disseminate to SSOAs the process and methodology used to monitor the effectiveness of SSOA enforcement authorities and practices<br>
slide15. SSOA Risk-based Inspection Program SSOAs must have inspection authority, and must develop policies and procedures to:
Access and enter RTA facilities to inspect infrastructure, equipment, records, personnel, and data
Collect data from RTAs, including data the RTA collects when identifying and evaluating safety risks
SSOAs must incorporate these
policies and procedures on 
access and data collection into the 
Program Standard and must ensure
they are included in the RTA's ASP<br>
slide16. National transit Database data<br>
slide17. Assault and Collision Reporting Requirements The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires transit agencies to report data relating to:
Assaults on a transit worker
Vehicular and pedestrian accidents involving buses and fatalities resulting from an
impact with a bus
This applies to more recipients than
just full reporters to the NTD<br>
slide18. Updates and Questions<br>