The Federal Transit Administration (FTA)’s new regulation, 49 CFR Part 673, requires transit agencies fitting certain criteria to implement Safety Management Systems (SMS) and have a Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP). To help agencies meet these requirements, TRA is working with several jurisdictions – including a large rail transit agency, a state department of transportation with several small urban bus systems, several state safety oversight agencies, and a large governmental authority – to develop and implement SMS programs and PTASPs.
We are assisting several of our state safety oversight clients by formulating FTA-compliant PTASP standards in time for the July 2019 deadline. In another project, a state department of transportation is contracting with TRA to develop PTASPs for that state’s 5307-funded bus transit agencies. The project scope includes detailed information gathering, interviews, staff training, SMS program setup, and implementation and monitoring activities customized for each of the bus transit providers. In addition, TRA is finalizing a contract with one of the nation’s largest heavy-rail transit agencies to provide an SMS gap analysis, program planning, and transit agency staff training.
TRA is also working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), a bi-state, multi-modal, congressionally-sanctioned transportation authority, to develop an Authority-wide safety plan approach. As part of that project, TRA has been charged with incorporating the latest in SMS principles into safety planning for PANYNJ’s rail systems, waterways, bridges, tunnels, and airports. Finally, you can view our in-depth breakdown of what SMS and PTASP requirements mean for your agency through our webinar series on TRA’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkGXtBNEYA4oU_aj83PNb4Q.
As part of our broader array of services, TRA provides bus and rail transit agencies, as well as transportation oversight agencies, with SMS gap analyses, implementation plans, staff training, and data collection and analysis systems. TRA can help oversight agencies set appropriate PTASP standards, and help transit providers to write plans that fulfill FTA and state requirements. To discuss your PTASP and SMS projects, please contact us at outreach@traonline.com or 215-279-6811.