PTASP Bus Checklist for Guidance and Adherence to New Requirements

FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SAFETY PLAN
Checklist for Bus Transit
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is providing the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) Checklist for Bus
Transit to assist with the development of Agency Safety Plans (ASP) for bus transit modes. Use of this checklist is voluntary. The
checklist is intended for use by States and operators of public transportation systems that are required to draft an ASP in accordance
with 49 CFR Part 673 (Part 673).
Version 3 of this checklist includes the current Bipartisan Infrastructure Law PTASP requirements at 49 U.S.C. § 5329(d). For further
information on these requirements, see also the PTASP Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Frequently Asked Questions. FTA expects to
issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking amending Part 673 in the future.

The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This
document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
Grantees and subgrantees should refer to FTA’s statutes and regulations for applicable requirements.

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Table of Contents
1.

TRANSIT AGENCY INFORMATION ............................................................................................................................................ 3

2.

PLAN DEVELOPMENT, APPROVAL, AND UPDATES ................................................................................................................... 4

3.

SAFETY PERFORMANCE TARGETS ............................................................................................................................................ 6

4.

RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM ................................................................................................................................................... 8

5.

PUBLIC HEALTH ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10

6.

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (SMS) .......................................................... 11

7.

SAFETY MANAGEMENT POLICY ............................................................................................................................................. 12

8.

SAFETY RISK MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................................................. 14

9.

SAFETY ASSURANCE .............................................................................................................................................................. 15

10.

SAFETY PROMOTION ............................................................................................................................................................. 17

11.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ................................................................................................................................................. 18

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1. Transit Agency Information
The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

1-a. Name(s) and address(es) of the transit agency(ies) that
the ASP applies to.

☐

1-b. Mode(s) of transit service covered by the ASP.

☐

1-c. Mode(s) of service provided by the transit agency
(directly operated or contracted service).

☐

1-d. FTA funding types. (e.g., 5307, 5337, 5339).

☐

1-e. Transit service provided by the transit agency on behalf
of another transit agency or entity, including a description
of the arrangement(s).

☐

1-f. An Accountable Executive who meets requirements in
§ 673.5 and § 673.23(d)(1).

☐

1-g. A Chief Safety Officer or Safety Management System
(SMS) Executive who meets requirements in § 673.5 and
§ 673.23(d)(2).

ASP Page
Number

Comments

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2. Plan Development, Approval, and Updates
The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

2-a. Name of the entity that drafted the ASP (e.g., State
Department of Transportation).

☐

2-b-1. Transit agencies that receive Section 5307 funding
and serve a large urbanized area (an urbanized area with a
population of 200,000 or more): Safety Committee
approval of the ASP and date of approval.

☐

2-b-2. Transit agencies that serve a small urbanized area
(an urbanized area with a population of fewer than
200,000): Cooperation with frontline employee
representatives in developing and/or updating the ASP.

☐

2-c. Accountable Executive signature on the ASP and date of
signature.

☐

2-d. Transit agency Board of Directors or Equivalent
Authority approval of the ASP and date of approval.

☐

2-e. Process and timeline for conducting an annual review
and update of the ASP, including the ASP version number
and other relevant information.

ASP Page
Number

Comments

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☒

Checklist Item

☐

2-f. The ASP addresses all applicable requirements and
standards as set forth in FTA’s Public Transportation Safety
Program and the National Public Transportation Safety Plan.

ASP Page
Number

Comments

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3. Safety Performance Targets1
The ASP specifies performance targets, as defined in § 673.5, for the following:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

3-a. Fatalities: Total number of reportable fatalities and rate
per total vehicle revenue miles, by mode.

☐

3-b. Injuries: Total number of reportable injuries and rate
per total vehicle revenue miles, by mode.

☐

3-c. Safety Events: Total number of reportable events and
rate per total vehicle revenue miles, by mode. (Event, as
defined in § 673.5)

☐

3-d. System Reliability: Mean (or average) distance between
major mechanical failures, by mode.

ASP Page
Number

Comments

ASP Page
Number

Comments

The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

1

☒

Checklist Item

☐

3-e. Performance targets are made available to the State to
aid in the planning process.

Performance targets for a risk reduction program at 49 U.S.C. § 5329(d)(4) are not required until FTA has established these performance measures.

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☒

Checklist Item

☐

3-f. Performance targets are made available to the
Metropolitan Planning Organization(s) (MPO) to aid in the
planning process.

☐

3-g. Coordination with the State and MPO(s) in the selection
of State and MPO Safety Performance Targets, to the
maximum extent practicable.

ASP Page
Number

Comments

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4. Risk Reduction Program2
The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

2

☒

Checklist Item

☐

4-a. Transit agencies that receive Section 5307 funding and
serve a large urbanized area (an urbanized area with a
population of 200,000 or more): Risk reduction program for
transit operations to improve safety by reducing the
number and rates of accidents, injuries, and assaults on
transit workers based on data submitted to the National
Transit Database, including:

☐

4-a-1. A reduction of vehicular and pedestrian accidents
involving buses that includes measures to reduce
visibility impairments for bus operators that contribute
to accidents, including retrofits to buses in revenue
service and specifications for future procurements that
reduce visibility impairments.

☐

4-a-2. The mitigation of assaults on transit workers,
including the deployment of assault mitigation
infrastructure and technology on buses, including
barriers to restrict the unwanted entry of individuals and
objects into the workstations of bus operators when a
risk analysis performed by the recipient’s Safety

ASP Page
Number

Comments

Performance targets for a risk reduction program at 49 U.S.C. § 5329(d)(4) are not required until FTA has established these performance measures.

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☒

Checklist Item

ASP Page
Number

Comments

Committee determines that such barriers or other
measures would reduce assaults on transit workers and
injuries to transit workers.

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5. Public Health
The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

5-a. Strategies to minimize exposure to infectious diseases,
consistent with guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention or a State health authority.3

ASP Page
Number

Comments

3

FTA encourages each transit agency to consider identifying mitigations or strategies related to exposure to infectious diseases through the Safety Risk
Management process described in the transit agency’s ASP.

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6. Development and Implementation of a Safety Management System (SMS)
The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

6-a. The transit agency’s establishment and implementation
of an SMS.

☐

6-b. The SMS is appropriately scaled to the size, scope, and
complexity of the transit agency and includes Safety
Management Policy, Safety Risk Management, Safety
Assurance, and Safety Promotion.

ASP Page
Number

Comments

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7. Safety Management Policy
The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

7-a. Written statement of the Safety Management Policy,
including the transit agency’s safety objectives.

ASP Page
Number

Comments

7-b. Employee safety reporting program, that includes:

☐

☐

·

A process that allows employees to report safety
conditions to senior management;

·

Protections for employees who report safety
conditions to senior management; and

·

A description of employee behaviors that may result
in disciplinary action, and therefore are excluded
from protection.

7-c. Communication of the Safety Management Policy
throughout the transit agency’s organization.

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☒

Checklist Item

☐

7-d. Authorities, accountabilities, and responsibilities
necessary for the management of safety, as they relate to
the development and management of the transit agency’s
SMS, for the following:
·

Accountable Executive;

·

Chief Safety Officer or SMS Executive;

·

Transit agency leadership and executive
management; and

·

Key staff.

ASP Page
Number

Comments

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8. Safety Risk Management
The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

8-a. Safety Hazard Identification: Methods or processes to
identify hazards and potential consequences of hazards,
which includes data and information provided by an
oversight authority and the FTA as sources for hazard
identification.

☐

8-b. Safety Risk Assessment: Methods or processes to assess
the safety risks associated with identified safety hazards.
This must include assessment of the likelihood and severity
of the potential consequences of the hazards, including
existing mitigations, and prioritization of the hazards based
on the safety risk.

☐

8-c. Safety Risk Mitigation: Methods or processes to identify
mitigations or strategies necessary as a result of the transit
agency’s Safety Risk Assessment to reduce the likelihood
and severity of the potential consequences of hazards.

ASP Page
Number

Comments

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9. Safety Assurance
The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

9-a. Activities to monitor the transit agency’s system for
compliance with, and sufficiency of, the transit agency’s
procedures for operations and maintenance (Safety
Performance Monitoring and Measurement).

☐

9-b. Activities to monitor the transit agency’s operations to
identify any safety risk mitigations that may be ineffective,
inappropriate, or were not implemented as intended (Safety
Performance Monitoring and Measurement).

☐

9-c. Activities to conduct investigations of safety events to
identify causal factors (Safety Performance Monitoring and
Measurement).

☐

9-d. Activities to monitor information reported through any
internal safety reporting programs. (Safety Performance
Monitoring and Measurement)

ASP Page
Number

Comments

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ASP Page
Number

☒

Checklist Item

☐

9-e. Management of Change: A process for identifying and
assessing changes that may introduce new hazards or impact
the transit agency’s safety performance. Proposed changes
that may impact the transit agency’s safety performance must
be evaluated through the transit agency’s Safety Risk
Management process. [Not Required for Small Public
Transportation Providers]

☐

9-f. Continuous Improvement: A process to assess the transit
agency’s safety performance. If the transit agency identifies
safety deficiencies as part of its safety performance
assessment, the transit agency must develop and carry out,
under the direction of the Accountable Executive, a plan to
address the identified safety deficiencies. [Not Required for
Small Public Transportation Providers]

Comments

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10. Safety Promotion
The ASP specifies, or references documentation that specifies:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

10-a. A comprehensive safety training program for all transit
agency employees and contractors designated as directly
responsible for safety in the transit agency’s public
transportation system. This program must include refresher
training, as necessary.

☐

ASP Page
Number

Comments

10-a-1. Transit agencies that receive Section 5307
funding and serve a large urbanized area (an urbanized
area with a population of 200,000 or more): The
comprehensive safety training program includes
maintenance personnel and de-escalation training.
10-b. Communication of safety and safety performance
information throughout the transit agency’s organization
that conveys, at a minimum:

☐

·

Information on hazards and safety risks relevant to
employees’ roles and responsibilities; and

·

Safety actions taken in response to reports
submitted through an employee safety reporting
program.

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11. Additional Information
The ASP is not required by Part 673 to include the following information. However, a transit agency could specify, or reference
documentation that specifies:

☒

Checklist Item

☐

11-a. Definitions of terms used in the ASP.

☐

11-b. List of acronyms used in the ASP.

ASP Page
Number

Comments

11-c. Certification of compliance with Part 673 in the Transit
Award Management System (TrAMS), including:

☐

·

Name of the individual or entity that certifies
compliance; and

·

Date of certification.

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