System Safety Approach to Collision Reduction

Abstract

Metro Transit is the main public transportation provider in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. It operates buses, light rail and commuter rail within a region of 2.9 million residents. Its bus fleet includes 686 40-foot buses, 166 articulated buses and 36 coaches. Average weekday bus boardings are 230,000 at more than 12,000 bus stops in a service area of 907 square miles. Of its nearly 2,800 employees, more than half (1,452) are bus operators.

Metro Transit’s primary focus has always been on providing safe, reliable transportation options. Its safety record for National Transit Database reportable collisions for 2008-2011 is far below those for the top 30 U.S. transit agencies, its peer agencies and those of comparable bus operations within several larger providers. However, in 2009, following two fatal buspedestrian collisions, the agency’s Bus Safety and Bus Transportation departments began collaborating on several initiatives to reduce collisions and enhance overall safety performance.

This document illustrates how a comprehensive framework of education and outreach created in 2009 and 2010 has led to improvements in customer perceptions of safety, a 6.5 percent annual reduction in collisions and a $582,282 annual savings in risk management claim payments.