The Federal Transit Administration recently issued a safety advisory to state safety oversight agencies or SSOAs to task transit agencies in their respective areas to analyze the risk of collisions between street-based light rail and tram operators and motor vehicles.
[Above photo by FTA]
Technically known as “on-street running rail operations,” the advisory specifically refers to light rail operations on tracks embedded in roadways, where trains and trams share the street with other users, such as pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles – thus why such light rail operations are referred to as “running” in mixed traffic environments.
The FTA said it issued this safety advisory in an attempt to reduce fatalities and injuries caused by such collisions, which occur more than 10 times as much as similar incidents at rail-grade crossings.
The agency said that, for this particular advisory, “street-running rail vehicle collisions” include any collision between a light rail, streetcar, hybrid rail, or cable car vehicle at traditional rail grade crossings or within shared right-of-way street intersections.
That collision data should encompass motor vehicles and persons outside a motor vehicle – including pedestrians, bicyclists, and people using micro-mobility devices – at traditional rail grade crossings, street intersections, crosswalks within stations, and rail rights-of-way in pedestrian malls, FTA added
The agency noted in its advisory that SSOAs have until December 26 to disseminate its collision data request and then have until May 26, 2025, to submit information back to the FTA.
The agency added that it plans to hold a webinar on December 12 about this advisory. Registration information for that webinar is available by clicking here.
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