Table 2-33a: Transit Safety Data by Mode^a for All Reported Incidents^b

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Rates per 100 million unlinked passenger trips^e

(millions)

^a The figures for cable car, inclined plane, jitney, and ferry boat are lumped together and appear in this footnote. Note that the 2003 data include 11 fatalities and 70 injuries that resulted from the Oct. 16, 2003 Staten Island Ferry incident.

^b Incidents include accidents (collisions with vehicles, objects, people (except suicides), derailments/vehicles going off road), plus personal casualties, fires, and property damage associated with transit agency revenue vehicles and all transit facilities.

^c Motor bus also includes trolley bus.

^d The number of unlinked passenger trips is equivalent to the number of passengers who board public transit vehicles. Passengers are counted each time they board a vehicle regardless of how many vehicles are necessary for a passenger to get to their destination.

^e 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 unlinked passenger trips.

^f In 2002 the drop in the number of incidents 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 incidents. The reliability of reporting is believed to be much better in 2003 and is expected to improve in the future.

SOURCE

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, 2004 Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Report (Cambridge, MA: 2005) and personal communications, Oct. 13, 2004, Apr. 22, 2005, Apr. 24, 2006, June 14, 2007 and June 18, 2008.