FTA Transit Bus Safety

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FTA Transit Bus Safety SecurityVoluntary
Onsite Reviews

• Program Overview
• February 3, 2009

BoydCatonGrant
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Onsite Review Background

• Core initiative of the FTA Transit Bus Safety and
  Security Program
• Completely voluntary, not compliance-based
• Create a national framework and baseline for
  safety, security and emergency preparedness
  excellence
• Initial focus is on 5311 and small 5307
  properties
• Emphasize technical assistance and coordination
  with industry stakeholders
• State DOTs and FTA Regional offices are invited
  to participate

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Purpose

• Assist participating agencies in developing and
  integrating safety, security and emergency
  preparedness activities into all facets of system
  management and operations
• Identify areas in which FTA can provide technical
  assistance
• Document effective practices that can be shared
  with sister agencies
• Identify gaps in assistance that must be
  developed by FTA to support Program goals

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Onsite Review Process

• Identify volunteer and coordinate with
  stakeholders to develop schedule
• Provider
• State DOT
• FTA Regional Office
• Notification package sent to volunteer agency
• Notification Letter
• Preliminary Schedule
• Review Topics
• Document Request
• 1½ day review, including interviews, record
  reviews site tour
• Checklists used to assure consistency
• Review team develops Final Report Resource CD
• Effective Practices, Observations, Needs Gaps,
  Suggestions

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Onsite Review Categories

• Review team evaluates six major categories
• Management
• Mission, Organizational Structure, Procurement,
  Labor
• Equipment/Systems
• Regulations, Maintenance, Facilities,
  Modifications, Quality
• 3. Human Resources
• Policy, Procedures, Recruitment, Training,
  Evaluation
• Safety Activities
• Responsibilities, Hazard Mgt., Safety Data,
  Internal Audits
• 5. Security Activities
• Responsibilities, TVA, Awareness, Security Data
• 6. All-Hazards Management
• Preparation, Incident Mgt., Internal Incidents,
  Recovery, Drills

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The Final Report

• Written report delivered following conclusion of
  onsite review typically within two weeks
• Documents observations made by the review team
• Identifies suggestions and recommendations as to
  how the reviewed agency might more effectively
  meet its safety and security mission
• Documents technical assistance materials
  delivered to by FTA to the reviewed agency
• Includes an accompanying CD-ROM of assistance
  materials

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Agencies Reviewed

• Reno County Public Transportation Department -
  Hutchinson, KS
• JAUNT, Inc. - Charlottesville, VA
• Pender Adult Services, Inc. - Burgaw, NC
• Santa Fe Trails - Santa Fe, NM
• Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation
  Authority (RGRTA) - Rochester, NY
• Special Transit - Boulder, CO
• Capital Area Rural Transportation System -
  Austin, TX
• City of Columbus, Columbus Transit Department -
  Columbus, IN
• Altoona Metro Transit - Altoona, PA
• Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority -
  Bridgeport, CT
• Delmarva Community Services, Inc., Delmarva
  Community Transit - Cambridge, MD
• Rural Office of Community Services - Lake Andes,
  SD
• The City of Mitchell/Palace Transit - Mitchell,
  SD
• Waccamaw Regional Transportation Authority d.b.a.
  Coast RTA - Conway, SC
• St. Joseph Transit - St. Joseph, MO
• Fresno County Rural Transit Agency - Fresno, CA
• Bend Area Transit - Bend, OR
• Bluefield Area Transit - Blue Field, WV
• Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation
  - Dover, NH

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Onsite Review Map
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Program Diversity

• Not a One Size Fits All program, must recognize
  diversity in community
• Varied Participants
• Geographic diversity/climate and environment
• Ridership and service demands
• Agency and fleet size/type
• Volunteer agencies have had as few as 9 and up to
  213 vehicles in service

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Volunteer Agency Fleet Size
Fleet Size Volunteer Agencies
Less than 30 vehicles 8
Between 30 and 100 vehicles 9
Over 100 vehicles 3
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Recommendations

• Average of 56 recommendations made to a volunteer
  agency
• The FTA Review Team has made as few as 41 and as
  many as 89 recommendations
• All recommendations are made in one of the six
  program elements

Management
Equipment/Systems
Human Resources
Safety Activities
Security Activities
All-Hazards/ Emergency Mgt.
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Recommendations by Program Element
Program Element Average Number of Recommendations Average Number of Technical Assistance Materials Provided
Human Resources 13.3 2.47
Equipment Systems 11.7 2.75
All Hazards / Emergency Management 11.7 8.40
Security Activities 9.6 2.05
Management 4.8 3.50
Safety Activities 4.6 2.53
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Most Commonly Provided Technical Assistance
Materials

• Los Lunas, NM Oxygen Tank Policy document (16)
• New Mexico Driver Handbook (11)
• Release of Sensitive Information (10)
• Reacting to Bomb Threats and Suspicious Mail (9)
• The New Mexico Safety, Security, and Emergency
  Preparedness Plan template (6)
• Complaint Commendation Card (5)

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Observations and Recommendations

• Onsite review team identifies areas in program
  documentation and implementation that could be
  strengthened
• Observations of practice are documented and show
  both strengths and weaknesses
• Effective practices are called out and materials
  requested
• Recommendations are made and technical assistance
  materials are provided via CD-ROM with Final
  Report

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Common Recommendations for Management

• Create, maintain, and or update System Safety
  Security and Emergency preparedness plans (10
  recommendations)
• The FTA review team provides safety and security
  plan templates as well as plans from different
  agencies (with approval) to assist in this
  activity
• Consider developing specific goals and objectives
  that focus on safety and security concerns (11
  recommendations)
• Determine as soon as possible the status of
  insurance coverage on any vehicles that might be
  used for emergency community evacuation purposes
  (14 recommendations)

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Common Recommendations Equipment / Systems

• Consider a decal for all vehicle roofs with a
  number at least one foot high and provide vehicle
  numbers to local law enforcement for use in
  identifying vehicles from the air (19
  recommendations)
• Consider a formal policy for onboard use and
  storage of passenger oxygen tanks (18
  recommendations)
• The FTA review team provided a model policy
• Develop a hazardous material plan and employee
  training program, maintain MSDS sheets on
  hazardous materials, and formalize hazardous
  material disposal procedures (13
  recommendations)
• The FTA review team is providing a model of a
  hazardous materials plan

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Common Recommendations for Human Resources

• Consider providing bio-hazard refresher training
  to all bus operators, dispatchers, supervisors
  and maintenance staff, including bus cleaners (12
  recommendations)
• Utilize the National Transit Institute (NTI)
  resources to assist in the delivery of workplace
  violence training(10 recommendations)
• Information on training offered by NTI is
  provided at www.ntionline.com
• Consider developing a formal and written Customer
  Service Policy and make available to all
  passengers (8 recommendations)
• The FTA review team provides a bi-lingual model
  customer service policy

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Common Recommendations for Safety Activities

• Consider expanding protocols for reacting to
  emergency events, training all staff on those
  protocols, and providing protocols at the
  dispatch area to assist with immediate response
  in a safety related event (9 recommendations)
• The FTA review team is providing a set of
  emergency response protocols to assist in this
  activity
• Consider a mechanism to proactively solicit
  feedback from drivers on accident/incident near
  misses and use this information to document
  trends as they may occur. This data can then be
  used to design training initiatives and propose
  future service design changes
  (6 recommendations)

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Common Recommendations for Security Activities

• Consider conducting a Threat and Vulnerability
  Assessment. Solicit external emergency management
  assistance with this process (15
  recommendations)
• The FTA review team provides materials such as
  information from the SSEPP template
• Encourage drivers to report and document
  incidents of an aggressive or potentially
  threatening nature that did not result in an
  actual security event. This information will
  allow some level of trend analysis (10
  recommendations)
• Consider requiring employees to display photo
  identification badges at all times while on duty
  (7 recommendations)

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Common Recommendations for All-Hazards /
Emergency Mgt.

• Consider developing a comprehensive Safety,
  Security and Emergency Preparedness Plan (SSEPP)
  (13 recommendations)
• The FTA review team provides templates of plans
• Consider having the Executive Director,
  Supervisor of Operations, Maintenance Manager,
  and Office Manager become NIMS certified in
  IS-100, IS-700, and IS-800. (13
  recommendations)
• Information for obtaining this certification
  online can be found at www.fema.gov/emergency/nims
  /
• Pursue a working relationship with emergency
  management, law enforcement and fire first
  responders (10
  recommendations)

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Onsite Review Evaluations

• Capture feedback regarding review effectiveness
• Internet based survey tool
• Team follows-up with review representatives to
  urge evaluation completion
• Review representatives complete online evaluation
• Data is collected and analyzed

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Agencies who have completed the online evaluation
JAUNT, Inc. Rural Office of Community Services
Reno County Public Transportation Dept. St. Joseph Transit
Pender Adult Services, Inc Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority
Santa Fe Trails Waccamaw Regional Transportation Authority d.b.a. Coast RTA
Altoona Metro Transit The City of Mitchell/Palace Transit
Capital Area Rural Transportation System Fresno County Rural Transit Agency
Special Transit Delmarva Community Transit
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Average Rating
Evaluation Question Rating out of 4
The On-site Review process was adequately explained prior to the reviewer's arrival. 3.57
During the initial meeting, the reviewer described the mission, goals and process of the safety and security review including how identified transit agency best practices would be used and how technical assistance would be provided. 3.93
Sufficient time was allotted for completing the on-site review of your transit agency. 3.57
The reviewer was knowledgeable of bus transit safety, security and emergency preparedness issues. 4.00
The reviewer provided your transit agency with recommendations, technical assistance, and industry best practices as was appropriate. 3.86
The review process was flexible and accommodated your agency's operational needs. 3.79
Prior to the end of the on-site visit, the reviewer verbally provided an overview of review observations. 3.71
My agency would recommend an FTA Bus Safety and Security Program Voluntary On-site Review to other transit agencies. 3.86
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Comments From the Agencies
We really appreciated the valuable review of our
transit operations with regard to safety and
security. It gave us many areas to examine and
some valuable information for use in improving
safety in our system. -Lynn Kiker, Reno County
Public Transportation Dept.-
We all found this visit very helpful to us. We
probably could have done a better job of putting
together the information needed. -Judy Cromer,
Transportation Director, Pender Adult Services,
Inc.-
Ream Lazaro and Jason Sergent both proved to be
knowledgeable and articulate in conducting the
FTA site visit at our transit system. They
provided an understandable overview of how we
could improve safety and security in our
operation of public transportation. The site
visit was completed with Ream Lazaro conducting a
course in "Securing Community Mobility" for
seventeen enthusiastic attendees. We would
reccommend Ream Lazaro to anyone wishing to learn
how to improve safety and reduce their security
risks. -Rene Guajardo - AGM, Safety Security,
Capital Area Rural Transportation System-
The survey process was very helpful and allowed a
beneficial dialog within our organization among
our transportation staff. The reviewer created a
positive learning atmosphere that allowed our
staff the opportunity to view this process in a
non threatening manner. We appreciate the
reviewers' professionalism. -Steve Blacksher,
Director of Customer and Community Services,
Special Transit-
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Comments From the Agencies (contd.)
I appreciate the opportunity to take part in this
Onsite Review Initiative. I also appreciate the
technical assistance provided. -Santo A.
Grande, Pres./CEO , Delmarva Community
Services, Inc., Delmarva Community Transit-
Ream was outstanding in his knowledge of security
and of the limitations and issues that affect a
small transit agency. He provided a very
meaningful and realistic benefit that is of great
value to the transit system in St. Joseph.
-Andrew Clements, Asst. Director, St. Joseph
Transit-
Great asset, I would highly recommend to all size
transit agencies. Provided many hands on
suggestions, which GBTA will be
implementing. -Roberta Yegidis - Administrative
Officer, Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority-
It was a wonderful experience for transit staff
and the City of Mitchell staff. Ream did an
outstanding job and we will utilize his expertise
as we need him. Thank you for allowing us to do
this. We really didn't know what to expect but
the unknown was met. -Brenda Paradis, Senior
Services Director, The City of Mitchell/Palace
Transit -
Ream did an excellent job, his technical
assistance with follow-up materials were
priceless for a small rural transit operator. It
turned out to be an excellent use of our time. I
would recommend to to every other transit agency.
Thank you for choosing us! -Jeffrey D.
Webster, General Manager, Fresno County Rural
Transit Agency-