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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Table 2-33: Transit Safety Data by Modea for All Reported Incidents

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Table 2-33: Transit Safety Data by Modea for All Reported Incidents

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  1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002f 2003
Fatalities, total 339 300 273 281 320 274 264 275 286 299 295 267 280 234
Motor busc 110 88 99 83 108 82 101 109 109 102 90 95 78 87
Light rail 7 13 9 15 13 15 6 3 23 17 30 21 13 17
Heavy rail 117 103 91 83 85 79 74 77 54 84 80 59 73 49
Commuter rail 104 93 74 98 112 92 72 79 94 95 87 87 116 77
Demand responsive 0 3 0 2 2 6 11 7 4 1 8 5 0 4
Van pool 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Automated guideway 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
Injured persons, total 54,556 52,125 55,089 52,668 58,193 57,196 55,288 56,132 55,990 55,325 56,697 53,945 19,260 18,235
Motor busc 40,006 38,619 40,090 38,873 42,195 41,297 39,709 39,181 41,035 41,221 40,925 38,840 11,995 11,493
Light rail 1,244 1,251 1,268 982 1,181 1,319 1,604 1,087 1,076 1,271 1,338 1,201 557 539
Heavy rail 10,036 9,285 10,446 10,532 11,673 11,238 11,093 12,285 11,059 9,665 10,848 10,641 4,806 4,158
Commuter rail 2,438 2,308 2,546 1,560 2,374 2,374 1,953 2,388 1,677 1,761 1,783 1,813 1,483 1,597
Demand responsive 807 622 713 652 731 935 882 1,121 1,064 1,345 1,736 1,374 347 401
Van pool 21 40 19 59 29 25 27 54 67 41 52 40 44 18
Automated guideway 4 0 7 10 10 8 20 16 12 21 15 36 28 29
All incidents, total 90,163 83,139 73,531 64,986 70,693 62,471 59,392 61,561 60,094 58,703 59,898 58,149 30,331 19,797
Motor busc 70,437 63,453 52,182 45,580 49,185 42,780 40,456 40,524 41,616 41,094 41,677 40,321 19,892 11,053
Light rail 1,465 1,543 1,492 1,136 1,413 1,276 1,350 1,173 1,121 1,182 1,319 1,299 1,105 983
Heavy rail 12,178 14,102 15,512 15,082 15,869 14,327 13,748 15,151 13,516 12,196 12,782 12,406 7,078 5,554
Commuter rail 3,031 2,716 3,160 2,111 3,115 2,847 2,449 3,078 2,410 2,499 2,072 2,159 1,720 1,749
Demand responsive 2,965 1,241 1,137 946 1,062 1,173 1,284 1,454 1,221 1,577 1,871 1,719 478 414
Van pool 84 83 40 121 39 58 80 162 194 135 160 209 35 11
Automated guideway 3 1 8 10 10 10 25 19 16 20 17 36 23 33
Unlinked passenger trips (millions)d, total 7,646 7,380 7,318 7,059 7,335 7,172 7,211 7,615 7,774 8,149 8,337 8,554 8,519 8,230
Motor busc 4,912 4,780 4,728 4,585 4,567 4,539 4,464 4,554 4,712 4,926 4,959 5,065 5,078 4,810
Light rail 174 184 187 187 274 249 259 259 273 289 316 327 333 334
Heavy rail 2,252 2,123 2,119 1,960 2,149 2,034 2,157 2,429 2,393 2,521 2,632 2,728 2,688 2,667
Commuter rail 286 274 262 303 318 322 302 311 360 374 388 390 380 375
Demand responsive 14 13 13 15 17 18 17 48 22 23 24 27 23 25
Van pool 2 2 3 4 5 5 6 8 9 10 10 10 10 11
Automated guideway 6 4 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 8 8 8
Rates per 100 million unlinked passenger trips (millions)e                            
Fatalities, all modes 4.4 4.1 3.7 4.0 4.4 3.8 3.7 3.6 3.7 3.7 3.5 3.1 3.3 2.8
Motor busc 2.2 1.8 2.1 1.8 2.4 1.8 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.1 1.8 1.9 1.5 1.8
Light rail 4.0 7.1 4.8 8.0 4.7 6.0 2.3 1.2 8.4 5.9 9.5 6.4 3.9 5.1
Heavy rail 5.2 4.9 4.3 4.2 4.0 3.9 3.4 3.2 2.3 3.3 3.0 2.2 2.7 1.8
Commuter rail 36.4 33.9 28.3 32.4 35.2 28.6 23.8 25.4 26.1 25.4 22.4 22.3 30.6 20.5
Demand responsive 0 22.6 0 13.5 12.0 33.9 65.5 14.6 18.1 4.3 32.8 18.6 0.0 15.9
Van pool 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Automated guideway 17.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 32 0 0 0 0 0
Injured persons, all modes 714 706 753 746 793 798 767 737 720 679 680 631 226 222
Motor busc 815 808 848 848 924 910 890 860 871 837 825 767 236 239
Light rail 715 682 677 524 432 529 620 419 394 440 423 368 167 162
Heavy rail 446 437 493 537 543 553 514 506 462 383 412 390 179 156
Commuter rail 853 843 972 516 747 738 646 769 466 471 459 465 391 425
Demand responsive 5,835 4,678 5,393 4,401 4,390 5,286 5,251 2,336 4,821 5,846 7,113 5,117 1,524 1,593
Van pool 1,037 1,721 584 1,398 638 537 461 701 773 411 524 405 453 167
Automated guideway 68 0 127 194 160 123 317 272 195 389 239 464 364 353
All incidents, all modes 1,179 1,126 1,005 921 964 871 824 808 773 720 718 680 356 241
Motor busc 1,434 1,327 1,104 994 1,077 943 906 890 883 834 840 796 392 230
Light rail 842 841 796 606 516 512 522 452 411 410 417 398 331 295
Heavy rail 541 664 732 769 738 705 637 624 565 484 486 455 263 208
Commuter rail 1,060 991 1,207 698 980 885 810 991 670 668 533 554 453 466
Demand responsive 21,440 9,333 8,600 6,385 6,378 6,632 7,644 3,030 5,532 6,854 7,666 6,402 2,099 1,645
Van pool 4,147 3,570 1,229 2,867 858 1,245 1,366 2,104 2,238 1,353 1,611 2,116 360 102
Automated guideway 51 28 145 194 160 154 396 323 260 371 271 464 299 401

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.

  1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Fatalities: 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 12
Injuries: 378 327 399 383 616 598 354 357 379 1,091 762 897 35 133
Incidents: 186 411 400 411 650 536 301 353 253 1,078 745 891 69 90

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 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 direct-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, 2002 Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Report (Cambridge, MA: 2004) and personal communications, Oct. 13, 2004 and Apr. 22, 2005.