Proposed General Directive 24-1: Required Actions Regarding Assaults on Transit Workers, 88213-88217 [2023-28002]

Agencies

• Federal Transit Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88213-88217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28002]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

[Docket No. FTA-2023-0032]


Proposed General Directive 24-1: Required Actions Regarding 
Assaults on Transit Workers

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of proposed general directive; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is proposing a 
General Directive to address the significant and continuing national-
level safety risk related to assaults on transit workers. The General 
Directive would require each transit agency subject to FTA's Public 
Transportation Agency Safety Plans (PTASP) regulation to conduct a 
safety risk assessment, identify safety risk mitigations or strategies, 
and provide information to FTA on how it is assessing, mitigating, and 
monitoring the safety risk associated with assaults on transit workers. 
As required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, each transit agency 
serving a large urbanized area must involve the joint labor-management 
Safety Committee when identifying safety risk mitigations.

DATES: Comments should be filed by February 20, 2024. FTA will consider 
comments received after that date to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by docket number FTA-2023-
0032, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for sending comments.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 
5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
(Federal Transit Administration and Docket Number (FTA-2023-0032). All 
comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
    Docket: For internet access to the docket to read background 
documents and comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov. 
Background documents and comments received may also be viewed at the 
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Docket 
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, 
DC 20590-0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For program matters, contact Stewart 
Mader, Office of Transit Safety and Oversight, (202) 366-9677 or 
[email protected]. For legal matters, contact Heather Ueyama, 
Office of Chief Counsel, (202) 366-7374 or [email protected].
    Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FTA is seeking comment on a proposed General 
Directive to address the significant and continuing nationwide safety 
risk associated with assaults on transit workers.\1\ This General 
Directive is part of FTA's ongoing comprehensive efforts to improve 
transit worker safety. FTA is also undertaking other actions related to

[[Page 88214]]

transit worker safety, including funding research, sponsoring training, 
soliciting public input, providing technical assistance. FTA intends to 
use information submitted to it pursuant to the General Directive and 
other FTA initiatives to inform future FTA actions, including 
rulemakings such as the planned Transit Worker and Public Safety rule.
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    \1\ For purposes of this General Directive, transit worker means 
any employee, contractor, or volunteer working on behalf of a 
transit agency, who comes into contact with the public while 
performing their duties.
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Assaults on Transit Workers: National-Level Hazard

    From 2008 to 2021, the National Transit Database (NTD) documented 
an average of 241 assaults on transit workers major events \2\ per 
year, including 192 per year occurring on transit vehicles, 44 per year 
occurring in transit revenue facilities, and five per year occurring in 
other non-public locations, such as maintenance shops and yards. The 
number of reported assaults on transit workers per 100 million vehicle 
revenue miles (VRM) increased by an average of eight percent per year 
from 2008 to 2021--a 121 percent total increase from the 2008 rate of 
assaults on transit workers.
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    \2\ A major event reported as an assault, defined in the NTD at 
the time the data was collected is an unlawful attack by one person 
upon another, or homicide where a transit worker received immediate 
medical attention away from the scene or died within 30 days of the 
event. This includes NTD reporters that are required to report 
detailed safety and security data to the NTD (full reporters). Full 
reporters include all rail transit agencies and all urban transit 
providers with more than 30 vehicles operated in maximum service. 
Full reporters account for approximately 86% of all public transit 
service reported to the NTD (as measured by vehicle revenue miles).
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    The NTD data collected and published in this period does not 
reflect the number and rate of all assaults on transit workers because 
it does not include assaults on transit workers that did not require 
medical attention. In the past, NTD reporting requirements focused on 
the most serious events that met the NTD ``major event'' reporting 
threshold, as defined by the NTD reporting manual. The Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law, enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 
Act (Pub. L. 117-58), significantly expands the data that FTA will 
collect through the NTD on assaults on transit workers. To implement 
this requirement, FTA recently finalized new NTD reporting requirements 
regarding assaults on transit workers on February 23, 2023, (88 FR 
11506) and has begun collecting expanded data.
    While FTA does not collect data on precursor events to assaults, 
industry experts cite anecdotal evidence that assaults on operators are 
a product of direct interaction with the public \3\ and that disputes 
over fares and other policy enforcement activities are a significant 
contributor to assaults on operators.\4\ The Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration states that workers who exchange money as part of 
their job duties, work in customer service or public service, and work 
alone are at higher risk for workplace violence.\5\ Similarly, the 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that risk 
factors for workplace assault include interaction with the public, 
exchanging money, delivering passengers, having a mobile workplace, 
working alone, working late or early hours, and working in high-crime 
areas or community settings.\6\ Many transit workers who perform their 
duties on transit vehicles and in revenue facilities, such as vehicle 
operators, station agents, and maintenance workers, perform their 
duties in such conditions.
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    \3\ https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/Final_TRACS_Assaults_Report_14-01_07_06_15_pdf_rv6.pdf.
    \4\ https://www.cutr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/TCRP-Synthesis-93-Report.pdf.
    \5\ https://www.osha.gov/workplace-violence.
    \6\ https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/96-100/default.html.
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    Respondents to FTA's 2021 Request for Information (RFI) on transit 
worker safety \7\ proposed numerous actions applicable across various 
types of agencies to protect transit workers from assault. These 
proposals included reducing bus operator involvement in fare and other 
policy enforcement; increasing frontline worker training on customer 
service, policy enforcement, and de-escalation; and changing bus 
designs to use barriers, among other mitigations. Responses also 
indicated that any new requirements for safety risk mitigations should 
be broad and flexible enough to work for transit agencies of all sizes 
and across all modes.
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    \7\ https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FTA-2021-0012/comments.
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    Based on this information, FTA has determined that there is a 
national-level hazard \8\ that transit workers must interact with the 
public, and, at times, must clarify or enforce agency policies, which 
presents a risk of transit workers being assaulted on transit vehicles 
and in revenue facilities.
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    \8\ FTA has defined hazard to mean any real or potential 
condition that can cause injury, illness, or death; damage to or 
loss of the facilities, equipment, rolling stock, or infrastructure 
of a public transportation system; or damage to the environment. 49 
CFR 673.5. A national-level hazard is one that exists at transit 
agencies across the country.
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Previous FTA Efforts To Address Assaults on Transit Workers

    In a 2019 Federal Register notice (84 FR 24196) FTA highlighted 
that in cases where a transit agency identifies hazards associated with 
assaults on transit operators, the PTASP regulation (49 CFR part 673) 
requires the agency to use the SMS Safety Risk Management (SRM) 
processes documented in its Agency Safety Plan (ASP) to assess the 
associated safety risk and, based on the results of the safety risk 
assessment, identify safety risk mitigations or strategies as necessary 
to address the safety risk.
    In 2021, concerned about the continued rise in reported assaults on 
transit workers, FTA analyzed through its internal SRM process the 
hazard that transit workers must interact with the public, and, at 
times, must clarify or enforce agency policies. FTA conducted a safety 
risk assessment to determine the likelihood and severity of two 
potential consequences of this hazard: assaults on transit workers on 
board transit vehicles, and assaults on transit workers in revenue 
facilities.
    The SRM process helps FTA determine effective and appropriate risk 
mitigations, such as technical assistance or regulatory responses, to 
support transit agencies in cultivating safer environments for their 
workers and riders. To support this SRM process, FTA established a 
likelihood scale, severity scale, and risk matrix for conducting a 
safety risk assessment for each identified potential consequence of a 
hazard. FTA uses these scales and risk matrix to determine a risk 
rating that helps FTA, if needed, develop its recommendations for 
safety risk mitigation.
    FTA's Sample Safety Risk Assessment Matrices for Bus Transit 
Agencies \9\ and Sample Safety Risk Assessment Matrices for Rail 
Transit Agencies \10\ illustrate how a safety risk assessment matrix 
provides a structured approach to assess the likelihood and severity of 
the consequences of identified hazards, determine if the safety risk is 
acceptable with existing mitigations, or if additional action is 
needed, and prioritize hazards based on the safety risk of their 
potential consequences. FTA's risk matrix is depicted in Figure 1 
below.
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    \9\ https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/safety/public-transportation-agency-safety-program/sample-safety-risk.
    \10\ https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/safety/public-transportation-agency-safety-program/sample-safety-risk-0.

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[[Page 88215]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN20DE23.009

Potential Consequence 1: Transit Workers Are Assaulted on Transit 
Vehicles

    The first potential consequence of the hazard discussed above is 
that transit workers are assaulted on transit vehicles. To assess 
likelihood, FTA reviewed NTD major event reports from 2008 through 2020 
that involved assaults on transit workers on transit vehicles 
throughout the country. Over the twelve-year period of 2008-2019,\11\ 
there were 2,225 major event reports matching the potential 
consequence, an average of 185 events per year. 1,805 (81 percent) of 
these occurred at bus modes, with the remaining 420 (19 percent) at 
rail modes. Due to the frequency of occurrence, the FTA determined a 
likelihood rating of Very High (5).
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    \11\ 2020 NTD safety and security data was preliminary and 
subject to revision at the time of FTA's review. Therefore, the 
analysis results presented here do not include 2020 data.
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    To assess severity, FTA reviewed the severity of the events 
referenced in the likelihood analysis. These events resulted in three 
fatalities and 2,232 injuries.\12\ All three fatalities and 1,806 (81 
percent) of injuries resulted from assaults on transit workers on 
buses, while the remaining 426 injuries (19 percent) resulted from 
assaults on transit workers on rail vehicles. NTD event data from 2017 
and later include information on the severity of injuries when rail 
modes reported assaults; over 98 percent of injuries from these 
assaults were minor. Because of this, FTA determined a severity rating 
of C. While there have been some instances of worker homicides and 
severe injuries in vehicles, the majority of these events result in a 
minor injury.
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    \12\ The number of injuries (2,232) exceeds the number of 
assault major events (2,225) because an assault event can result in 
multiple injuries.
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Potential Consequence 2: Transit Workers Are Assaulted in Revenue 
Facilities

    The second potential consequence of the hazard discussed above is 
that transit workers are assaulted in revenue facilities. To assess 
likelihood, FTA reviewed NTD major event reports from 2008 through 2020 
that involved assaults on transit workers in revenue facilities 
throughout the country. Over the twelve-year period of 2008-2019,\13\ 
there were 674 major event reports matching this potential consequence, 
an average of 56.17 events per year. 549 (81 percent) of these occurred 
at rail modes, with the remaining 125 (19 percent) at bus modes. Due to 
the rate of occurrence, FTA determined a likelihood rating of Very High 
(5).
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    \13\ 2020 NTD safety and security data was preliminary and 
subject to revision at the time of FTA's review. Therefore, the 
analysis results presented here do not include 2020 data.
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    To assess severity, FTA reviewed the severity of the events 
referenced in the likelihood analysis. These events resulted in two 
fatalities and 732 injuries. A single fatality and 599 (82 percent) of 
injuries resulted from assaults on transit workers in rail revenue 
facilities, while the remaining 133 injuries (18 percent) and one 
fatality resulted from assaults on transit workers in bus revenue 
facilities. NTD event data from 2017 and later include information on 
the severity of injuries from assaults on transit workers in rail 
revenue facilities; over 95 percent of injuries from these assaults 
were minor. Because of this, FTA determined a severity rating of C. 
While there have been some instances of transit worker homicides and 
severe injuries in revenue facilities, the majority of these events 
resulted in a minor injury.
    Based on the risk ratings of the two identified potential 
consequences, FTA determined an overall risk rating of 5C, as noted in 
Figure 2. This risk rating reflects that the safety risk associated 
with assaults on transit workers is high.

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN20DE23.010

    In addition, as part of FTA's overall goal of reducing assaults on 
transit workers, FTA analyzed data on assaults on transit workers 
reported to the NTD between 2016 and 2021. Through this analysis, FTA 
determined that nine transit agencies accounted for 79% of all assaults 
on transit workers reported to the NTD. FTA issued Special Directives 
\14\ to these agencies on October 4, 2023, to determine whether and how 
these agencies are addressing safety risk related to assaults on 
transit workers using their SMS processes and to determine if 
additional FTA intervention is necessary to mitigate the safety risk 
related to assaults on transit workers.
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    \14\ https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/safety/fta-special-directives#SDTWA.
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    FTA reviewed and analyzed the information received from these 
agencies. Of the nine agencies that received the Special Directives, 
only four reported the completion of a safety risk assessment prior to 
issuance of the Special Directives. This is troubling because, as noted 
above, FTA has previously alerted transit agencies of the need to 
address the risk of assaults on transit operators when identified 
through SMS. If these agencies have not completed a safety risk 
assessment, FTA is concerned that other transit agencies may not have 
done so either, despite the presence of the risk of assaults on transit 
workers on the systems they operate.
    Safety risk assessment is a required step of a transit agency's SRM 
process.\15\ Moreover, safety risk assessment is a critical tool to 
understand the risk associated with assaults on transit workers and to 
help each agency and joint-labor management Safety Committee prioritize 
and develop safety risk mitigations. The importance of the safety risk 
assessment step of SRM is further underscored by its use by FTA to 
assess national-level safety risk. Now, based on the available safety 
data, FTA's determination of a 5C risk rating reflecting a high 
nationwide risk of assaults on transit workers, and the results of the 
Special Directives, FTA has concluded that additional FTA intervention 
is necessary to address the safety risk related to assaults on transit 
workers nationwide.
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    \15\ 49 CFR 673.25(c).
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Purpose of General Directive

    As discussed above, FTA has determined that there is a national-
level hazard that transit workers must interact with the public, and, 
at times, must clarify or enforce agency policies. FTA has identified 
that the potential consequences of this hazard are that transit workers 
may be assaulted on transit vehicles and in revenue facilities. 
Pursuant to 49 CFR 673.25(b), a transit agency must consider, as a 
source for hazard identification, data and information provided by FTA.
    FTA has determined that the national-level hazard and potential 
consequences discussed above constitute an unsafe condition or practice 
presenting a risk of death or personal injury for transit workers. 
Accordingly, pursuant to 49 CFR 670.25, FTA proposes issuing a General 
Directive that directs agencies to take action to address the 
identified national-level hazard and the potential consequences.
    FTA proposes that the General Directive require each transit agency 
that is required to have an Agency Safety Plan (ASP) under the PTASP 
regulation (49 CFR part 673) to use the Safety Risk Management (SRM) 
processes documented in its ASP to conduct a safety risk assessment 
related to assaults on transit workers on the public transportation 
system it operates. FTA is proposing that if a transit agency has 
conducted a safety risk assessment related to assaults on transit 
workers in the twelve months preceding the date of issuance of the 
final General Directive, and if the transit agency continues to believe 
that the results of that safety risk assessment are relevant, the 
transit agency need not conduct a new assessment. FTA also proposes to 
require each transit agency to use the SRM processes documented in its 
ASP to identify safety risk mitigations or strategies necessary as a 
result of the agency's safety risk assessment. As required by the 
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law at 49 U.S.C. 5329(d)(5), each transit 
agency serving a large urbanized area must involve the joint labor-
management Safety Committee when identifying safety risk mitigations to 
reduce the likelihood and severity of consequences identified through 
the agency's safety risk assessment. The General Directive would also 
require each transit agency to provide information to FTA on how it is 
assessing, mitigating, and monitoring the safety risk associated with 
assaults on transit workers within 60 days of issuance of the final 
General Directive. FTA notes that this proposed directive is intended 
to work in conjunction with OSHA protections and is not intended to 
preempt OSHA's standards or other enforcement authority.
    FTA is proposing this approach as it is grounded in SMS principles 
and methods, which FTA has adopted as the basis for enhancing public 
transportation safety. See 49 CFR 670.3. Further, FTA believes this 
approach will ensure that each transit agency is taking a formal look 
at the safety risk related to assaults on transit workers on their 
system. FTA also believes this approach will contribute to transit 
agencies and their joint labor-management Safety Committees identifying 
scalable and effective mitigations across the range of services they 
provide and situations that contribute to the risk of assaults on 
transit workers. FTA proposes that each transit agency provides FTA

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information on how it is assessing, mitigating, and monitoring the 
safety risk associated with assaults on transit workers, which FTA may 
use to inform future Federal action to protect transit workers.
    FTA is proposing to issue this General Directive to all transit 
agencies required to have an ASP under the PTASP regulation because FTA 
has determined that the hazard that transit workers must interact with 
the public, and, at times, must clarify or enforce agency policies, 
exists at transit agencies of all sizes and across all modes of public 
transportation, not just those in large urbanized areas.
    The proposed General Directive contains proposed binding 
obligations, which 49 U.S.C. 5334(k) defines as ``a substantive policy 
statement, rule, or guidance document issued by the Federal Transit 
Administration that grants rights, imposes obligations, produces 
significant effects on private interests, or effects a significant 
change in existing policy.'' Under 49 U.S.C. 5334(k) FTA may issue 
binding obligations if it follows notice and comment rulemaking 
procedures under 5 U.S.C. 553.
    FTA requests public comment on this proposed General Directive, 
which is available on the FTA website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/safety/fta-general-directives and in Docket 
No. FTA-2023-0032. Following an analysis of the public comments, FTA 
will publish a notice in the Federal Register that includes both a 
response to comments and announces a final General Directive or a 
statement rescinding or revising the proposed General Directive.
    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 5329; 49 CFR 1.91, 670.25.

Veronica Vanterpool,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2023-28002 Filed 12-19-23; 8:45 am]
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