Rail Safety Data Report Rail Transit Safety Data 2007 – 2015 September 2018 This page intentionally left blank Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Washington Headquarters Service, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington, DC 20503. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 2007 – 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Rail Safety Statistics Report: Rail Transit Safety Data 2007 – 2015 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S) 11.SPONSORING/ MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 12. DISTRIBUTION AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT This Rail Safety Data Report (RSDR) analyzes event data collected through the State Safety Oversight (SSO) program and provides a snapshot of the safety performance of the rail transit industry for the nine- year period of calendar year (CY) 2007 through CY 2015. This report focuses on the types of events that occurred, their consequences in terms of fatalities and injuries, and their likely causes. The report standardizes event, fatality and injury numbers by 100 million vehicle revenue miles (100M VRM) as reported to the National Transit Database (NTD). By identifying and analyzing this information, FTA can develop and conduct research, training, and evaluation targeted at the situations and conditions that pose the greatest risk of harm to passengers, employees, station occupants, and the public. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Rail Transit; State Safety Oversight Program; Industry Trends; Collision Type; Event Type; Fatalities by Mode; Injuries by Mode; Heavy Rail; Light Rail; Streetcar; Events by Probable Cause 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18. 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE NUMBER OF PAGES 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code) This page intentionally left blank Rail Safety Data Report Table of Contents Table of Figures ...............................................................................................................ii Table of Tables ...............................................................................................................iv Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 5 Overview of the State Safety Oversight Program ........................................................ 5 SSO Community .......................................................................................................... 6 Operating RTAs ........................................................................................................... 7 Limitations of This Analysis ......................................................................................... 7 2015 Rail Transit Industry Data and Annual Trends ........................................................ 8 Total VRM (Millions) for Regulated RTAs .................................................................... 8 Total Events and Rates per 100M VRM ...................................................................... 8 Total Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM ................................................................... 8 Total Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM ...................................................................... 9 Fatality and Injury Person Types ................................................................................. 9 Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM by Person Type ............................................ 10 Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM by Person Type ............................................... 12 Events by Mode ............................................................................................................ 14 Events and Rates per 100M VRM by Mode............................................................... 15 Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM by Mode ........................................................... 16 Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM by Mode .............................................................. 18 Events by Event Type ................................................................................................... 20 Events and Rates per 100M VRM by Event Type ..................................................... 21 Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM by Event Type .................................................. 22 Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM by Event Type ..................................................... 24 Collisions by Collision Type ........................................................................................... 26 Heavy Rail Collisions and Rates per 100M VRM by Collision Type .......................... 27 Heavy Rail Collision Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM by Collision Type ............. 28 Heavy Rail Collision Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM by Collision Type ................ 29 Light Rail and Streetcar Collisions and Rates per 100M VRM by Collision Type ...... 31 Page | i Rail Safety Data Report Light Rail and Streetcar Collision Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM by Collision Type........................................................................................................................... 32 Light Rail and Streetcar Collision Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM by Collision Type........................................................................................................................... 33 Events by Probable Cause ............................................................................................ 35 Events and Rates per 100M VRM by Probable Cause .............................................. 36 Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM by Probable Cause........................................... 37 Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM by Probable Cause ............................................. 39 Appendix A. Definitions ...........................................................................................A-1 Appendix B. Data Management Practices ...............................................................B-1 Appendix C. Methodology ....................................................................................... C-1 Table of Figures Figure 1. Events, Fatalities, and Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM, 2007–2015 ........... 2 Figure 2. Rail System Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM by Mode, 2007–2015 .......... 3 Figure 3. Fatalities by Person Type ................................................................................. 3 Figure 4. Public Fatalities by Cause ................................................................................ 3 Figure 5. Trend in Fatalities and Rate per 100M VRM Excluding Suicide and Trespasser Fatalities, 2007–2015 ................................................................. 4 Figure 6. Trend in Fatalities per 100M VRM Excluding Suicide and Trespasser Fatalities by Person Type, 2007–2015 .......................................................... 4 Figure 7. SSO Community Map by Region ..................................................................... 6 Figure 8. Total VRM (Millions) ......................................................................................... 8 Figure 9. Total Events and Rates per 100M VRM ........................................................... 8 Figure 10. Total Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM...................................................... 8 Figure 11. Total Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM ........................................................ 9 Figure 12. Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM by Person Type .................................. 10 Figure 13. Fatality and Fatality Rate Trends by Person Type ....................................... 11 Figure 14. Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM by Person Type ..................................... 12 Figure 15. Percent Change in Injuries and Injury Rates by Person Type ...................... 13 Page | ii Rail Safety Data Report Figure 16. Events and Rates per 100M VRM by Mode ................................................. 15 Figure 17. Fatalities and Rates per 100M VRM by Mode .............................................. 16 Figure 18. Fatality and Fatality Rate Trends by Rail Mode ............................................ 17 Figure 19. Injuries and Rates per 100M VRM by Mode................................................. 18 Figure 20. Percent Change in Injuries and Injury Rates by Rail Mode .......................... 19 Figure 21. Events and Rates per 100M VRM by Event Type ........................................ 21 Figure