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Table 2-32: Transit Safety Data by Modea for All Reported Accidentsb

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  1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Fatalities, total 212 215 173 191 225 179 152 185 192 190 183 197 109 120 111 106 121
Motor busc 92 80 91 79 90 69 82 100 90 91 82 89 64 73 61 49 76
Light rail 5 11 6 14 10 10 5 3 14 13 22 15 8 13 14 15 11
Heavy rail 51 59 33 37 41 43 32 28 18 21 19 26 30 17 15 7 12
Commuter rail 63 63 43 59 82 56 30 52 67 64 56 64 7 16 18 28 14
Demand responsive 0 2 0 2 2 1 3 2 2 1 4 3 0 1 0 7 7
Van pool 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1
Automated guideway 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Injured persons, totale 20,023 20,594 21,653 22,081 20,939 22,159 22,950 21,452 21,341 21,727 22,140 21,260 7,771 10,271 7,829 8,102 8,062
Motor busc 18,876 19,016 20,556 20,862 19,663 20,879 21,222 20,145 20,136 20,291 20,329 19,532 7,211 8,905 7,164 7,187 7,186
Light rail 465 474 468 361 327 355 680 320 332 427 415 305 177 192 245 268 255
Heavy rail 296 308 273 365 309 348 431 336 261 286 425 598 90 218 158 86 94
Commuter rail 84 560 110 210 216 159 213 99 66 54 53 108 50 102 51 263 100
Demand responsive 286 200 233 224 399 395 379 499 492 632 869 679 200 836 174 280 373
Van pool 16 36 13 58 24 23 25 52 53 37 49 38 43 18 37 18 47
Automated guideway 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
Accidents, totale 58,002 46,468 36,380 30,559 29,972 25,683 25,166 24,924 23,937 23,310 24,261 23,891 13,968 7,793 7,838 (R) 8,152 8,970
Motor busc 55,289 44,467 34,282 28,596 27,754 23,819 23,425 22,995 22,277 21,407 22,127 21,799 12,821 6,720 6,837 (R) 6,983 7,738
Light rail 699 671 600 449 512 309 341 363 328 300 357 344 558 556 490 625 634
Heavy rail 144 188 613 662 744 637 346 325 293 396 364 328 183 152 171 117 131
Commuter rail 175 248 181 208 266 216 201 192 193 215 258 237 89 89 93 68 77
Demand responsive 1,613 814 668 524 659 647 774 886 664 862 997 976 283 267 219 249 356
Van pool 81 79 35 119 36 54 78 160 179 130 157 207 34 9 28 110 32
Automated guideway 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
Vehicle-miles (millions), total 2,490 2,478 2,510 2,535 2,581 2,620 2,605 2,702 2,833 2,927 3,002 3,090 3,084 3,071 3,139 3,099 3,128
Motor busc 1,668 1,661 1,688 1,690 1,702 1,702 1,687 1,719 1,779 1,835 1,868 1,911 1,919 1,876 1,891 1,853 1,849
Light rail 24 27 28 27 34 34 37 41 43 48 52 53 60 64 63 67 72
Heavy rail 529 522 520 518 522 537 543 558 566 578 595 608 621 630 643 645 649
Commuter rail 187 188 188 206 210 217 203 216 242 249 253 257 255 256 279 271 283
Demand responsive 74 71 72 77 94 109 108 134 157 167 179 205 172 189 203 196 196
Van pool 8 8 13 16 18 19 25 33 44 49 52 54 56 55 58 65 77
Automated guideway 0.6 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.1 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.8 1.8 1.5 1.5 2 2

Rates per 100 million vehicle-milesd

  1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Fatalities, all modes 8.5 8.7 6.9 7.5 8.7 6.8 5.8 6.8 6.8 6.5 6.1 6.4 3.5 3.9 3.5 3.4 3.9
Motor busc 5.5 4.8 5.4 4.7 5.3 4.1 4.9 5.8 5.1 5.0 4.4 4.7 3.3 3.9 3.2 2.6 4.1
Light rail 20.8 40.3 21.2 51.1 29.6 29.0 13.3 7.4 32.3 27.1 42.3 28.5 13.3 20.4 22.1 22.4 15.3
Heavy rail 9.6 11.3 6.3 7.1 7.9 8.0 5.9 5.0 3.2 3.6 3.2 4.3 4.8 2.7 2.3 1.1 1.8
Commuter rail 33.6 33.4 22.9 28.6 39.0 25.8 14.8 24.1 27.6 25.7 22.1 24.9 2.7 6.2 6.5 10.3 4.9
Demand responsive 0.0 2.8 0.0 2.6 2.1 0.9 2.8 1.5 1.3 0.6 2.2 1.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 3.6 3.6
Van pool 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.2 0.0 1.3
Automated guideway 162.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 69.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Injured persons, all modese 804 831 863 871 811 846 881 794 753 742 738 688 252 334 249 261 258
Motor busc 1,132 1,145 1,218 1,234 1,155 1,227 1,258 1,172 1,132 1,106 1,088 1,022 376 475 379 388 389
Light rail 1,933 1,735 1,654 1,318 968 1,030 1,815 785 767 889 798 580 293 302 386 400 354
Heavy rail 56 59 52 71 59 65 79 60 46 50 71 98 14 35 25 13 14
Commuter rail 45 297 59 102 103 73 105 46 27 22 21 42 20 40 18 97 35
Demand responsive 386 282 324 292 425 361 349 372 313 379 485 331 117 443 86 143 190
Van pool 208 430 103 363 132 123 101 158 121 75 94 70 77 33 64 28 61
Automated guideway 0 0 0 104 85 0 0 70 69 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 389
Accidents, all modese 2,329 1,875 1,450 1,205 1,161 980 966 922 845 796 808 773 453 254 250 263 287
Motor busc 3,315 2,678 2,031 1,692 1,631 1,400 1,389 1,338 1,252 1,166 1,184 1,141 668 358 362 377 418
Light rail 2,906 2,456 2,121 1,639 1,516 897 910 891 758 624 687 654 925 874 773 933 881
Heavy rail 27 36 118 128 142 119 64 58 52 69 61 54 29 24 27 18 20
Commuter rail 93 132 96 101 127 100 99 89 80 86 102 92 35 35 33 25 27
Demand response 2,177 1,147 928 682 702 591 714 661 423 516 557 476 165 141 108 127 182
Van pool 1,052 944 278 744 198 289 314 485 408 263 301 380 61 16 48 169 42
Automated guideway 162 204 102 104 85 87 69 209 207 0 62 0 0 0 0 0 111

a Accident statistics for cable car, inclined plane, jitney, and ferry boat are not available. The number of incidents, fatalities, and injuries for these modes appear in the footnotes for table 2-33a.

b Accidents include collisions with vehicles, objects, people (except suicides), and derailments/vehicles going off road.

c Motor bus also includes trolley bus.

d Rates are based on total incidents including accidents and were calculated by dividing the number of fatalities, injuries, and incidents in this table by the number of vehicle-miles.

e In 2002 the drop in the number of accidents and injuries is due largely to a change in definitions by the Federal Transit Administration, particularly the definition of injuries. Only injuries requiring immediate medical treatment away from the scene now qualify as reportable. Previously, any injury was reportable. Commuter rail data are now derived from the Federal Railroad Administration's Rail Accident Incident Reporting System (RAIRS).

NOTES

Data are provided only for transit systems that furnished safety data for inclusion in the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis annual reports. Data covers only directly operated urban transit systems. Vehicle-miles for all transit systems including nonurban and purchased can be found in the vehicle-miles table in chapter 1.

Prior to the 2000 edition, Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Report was entitled Safety Management Information Statistics (SAMIS) annual report.

Analysts for the FTA believe the change in reporting requirements in 2002 may have resulted in unreliable data in that year, particularly for injuries and accidents. The reliability of reporting is believed to be much better in 2003 and is expected to improve in the future.

Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

SOURCE

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, 2002 Safety and Security Statistics, personal communications, Oct. 8, 2004, Apr. 22, 2005, Apr. 24, 2006, and June 14, 2007 June, 18 2008.
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