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Table 2-34: Transit Safety Data by Mode(a) for All Reported Incidents(b)

Friday, October 21, 2016

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  1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 (P) 2013 (P) 2014
Fatalities, total 339 300 273 281 320 274 264 275 286 299 295 267 289 259 263 249 246 307 264 290 313 323 373 361 314
Motor busc 110 88 99 83 108 82 101 109 109 102 90 95 80 109 82 75 108 105 81 78 84 92 97 103 86
Light rail 7 13 9 15 13 15 6 3 23 17 30 21 13 15 21 19 17 33 16 34 24 36 45 33 39
Heavy rail 117 103 91 83 85 79 74 77 54 84 80 59 73 47 60 35 23 32 67 100 96 96 102 108 93
Commuter rail 104 93 74 98 112 92 72 79 94 95 87 87 116 77 86 105 85 124 93 66 97 97 112 104 85
Demand responsive 0 3 0 2 2 6 11 7 4 1 8 5 6 11 6 12 12 11 7 7 10 2 14 10 10
Van pool 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 1 1 0 4 1 0 2 2 0
Automated guideway 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1
Injured persons, totalf 54,556 52,125 55,089 52,668 58,193 57,196 55,288 56,132 55,990 55,325 56,697 53,945 20,313 20,175 20,794 19,696 21,433 23,350 26,260 27,870 27,037 22,250 23,099 25,495 22,973
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 12,323 12,537 12,925 12,385 12,852 14,126 14,266 15,470 14,901 11,361 11,872 13,737 13,584
Light rail 1,244 1,251 1,268 982 1,181 1,319 1,604 1,087 1,076 1,271 1,338 1,201 539 556 654 614 656 843 1,006 1,054 917 766 888 771 917
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 4,833 4,154 4,759 3,814 4,820 5,015 7,264 7,536 7,521 6,688 7,212 7,708 5,286
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 1,364 1,672 1,426 1,548 1,700 1,808 1,928 1,811 1,575 1,574 1,433
Demand responsive 807 622 713 652 731 935 882 1,121 1,064 1,345 1,736 1,374 1,070 1,283 1,031 1,180 1,607 1,768 1,979 1,896 1,642 1,500 1,455 1,554 1,669
Van pool 21 40 19 59 29 25 27 54 67 41 52 40 37 19 46 29 55 39 23 69 39 10 18 62 19
Automated guideway 4 0 7 10 10 8 20 16 12 21 15 36 28 29 15 2 17 11 22 37 89 114 79 89 65
All incidents, totalf 90,163 83,139 73,531 64,986 70,693 62,471 59,392 61,561 60,094 58,703 59,898 58,149 25,827 22,490 23,490 23,828 26,109 25,468 24,935 25,897 24,664 19,492 20,061 23,473 20,780
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 13,883 12,006 12,593 12,767 14,274 13,601 11,555 12,496 11,466 8,325 8637 10102 9876
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 1,056 985 939 1,129 1,130 1,181 1,009 986 810 696 855 838 920
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 6,919 5,534 6,270 5,738 6,267 6,963 8,902 8,697 8,724 7,928 8330 8828 6327
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 1,598 1,663 1,575 1,732 1,707 1,937 2,133 1,987 1,723 2,274 2,187
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 2,195 2,171 2,037 2,402 2,816 1,924 1,724 1,716 1,437 429 423 1313 1391
Van pool 84 83 40 121 39 58 80 162 194 135 160 209 31 12 34 123 36 46 12 25 14 8 11 26 11
Automated guideway 3 1 8 10 10 10 25 19 16 20 17 36 23 33 19 6 11 21 26 40 80 119 82 92 68
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 8,836 8,738 8,782 9,020 9,234 9,801 10,068 9,932 9,563 9,189 9,990 9,992 10,007
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 5,333 5,255 5,200 5,333 5,374 5,375 5,548 5,463 5,139 4,652 5,198 5,198 5,131
Light rail 174 184 187 187 274 249 259 259 273 289 316 327 337 338 350 381 407 418 451 464 456 401 510 510 483
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 2,748 2,808 2,927 3,460 3,547 3,490 3,466 3,636 3,746 3,746 3,845
Commuter rail 286 274 262 303 318 322 302 311 360 374 388 390 380 375 377 383 399 413 384 373 369 373 378 380 388
Demand responsive 14 13 13 15 17 18 17 48 22 23 24 27 78 82 83 87 88 91 96 100 92 96 101 101 102
Van pool 2 2 3 4 5 5 6 8 9 10 10 10 12 13 15 17 20 23 30 32 31 20 36 36 36
Automated guideway 6 4 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 8 8 8 9 12 18 21 12 10 10 11 21 21 22
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 3.0 3.0 2.8 2.7 3.1 3 3 3.3 3.5 3.7 3.6 3.1
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 2.1 1.6 1.4 2.0 2.0 1 1 1.6 2.0 1.9 2.0 1.7
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 4.4 6.0 5.0 4.2 7.9 4 7 5.3 9.0 8.8 6.5 8.1
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 2.2 1.2 0.8 0.9 2 3 2.8 2.6 2.7 2.9 2.4
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 22.8 27.4 21.3 30.0 24 18 26.3 26.0 29.6 27.4 21.9
Demand responsive 0.0 22.6 0.0 13.5 12.0 33.9 65.5 14.6 18.1 4.3 32.8 18.6 7.7 13.5 7.2 13.9 13.6 12.1 7 7 10.9 2.1 13.9 9.9 9.8
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 8.2 0.0 47.1 0.0 4.9 4.4 0 13 3.2 0.0 5.6 5.6 0.0
Automated guideway 17.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 32.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10.7 26.0 0.0 4.8 0 10 10.0 0.0 4.8 4.8 4.5
Injured persons, all modesf 714 706 753 746 793 798 767 737 720 679 680 631 230 231 237 218 232 238 261 281 283 242 231 255 230
Motor busc 815 808 848 848 924 910 890 860 871 837 825 767 231 239 249 232 239 263 257 283 290 244 228 264 265
Light rail 715 682 677 524 432 529 620 419 394 440 423 368 160 165 187 161 161 202 223 227 201 191 174 151 190
Heavy rail 446 437 493 537 543 553 514 506 462 383 412 390 180 156 173 136 165 145 205 216 217 184 193 206 137
Commuter rail 853 843 972 516 747 738 646 769 466 471 459 465 391 425 362 437 357 374 443 485 522 486 417 414 369
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 1,369 1,569 1,242 1,363 1,820 1,943 2,072 1,892 1,785 1,563 1,441 1,539 1,636
Van pool 1,037 1,721 584 1,398 638 537 461 701 773 411 524 405 302 141 309 168 269 173 77 218 126 50 50 172 53
Automated guideway 68 0 127 194 160 123 317 272 195 389 239 464 364 353 160 17 94 53 189 353 890 1,036 376 424 295
All incidents, all modesf 1,179 1,126 1,005 921 964 871 824 808 773 720 718 680 292 257 267 264 283 260 248 261 258 212 201 235 208
Motor busc 1,434 1,327 1,104 994 1,077 943 906 890 883 834 840 796 260 228 242 239 266 253 208 229 223 179 166 194 192
Light rail 842 841 796 606 516 512 522 452 411 410 417 398 314 292 268 297 278 282 224 212 178 174 168 164 190
Heavy rail 541 664 732 769 738 705 637 624 565 484 486 455 257 208 228 204 214 201 251 249 252 218 222 236 165
Commuter rail 1,060 991 1,207 698 980 885 810 991 670 668 533 554 453 466 424 435 394 419 445 519 578 533 456 598 564
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 2,808 2,655 2,454 2,774 3,190 2,115 1,805 1,713 1,562 447 419 1,300 1,364
Van pool 4,147 3,570 1,229 2,867 858 1,245 1,366 2,104 2,238 1,353 1,611 2,116 253 89 229 714 176 204 40 79 45 40 31 72 31
Automated guideway 51 28 145 194 160 154 396 323 260 371 271 464 299 401 203 52 61 101 223 381 800 1,082 390 438 309

KEY: P = preliminary.

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.

Other Modes

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Fatalities:

2

1

0

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

2

10

0

0

1

2

1

0

2

Injuries:

378

327

399

383

616

598

354

357

379

1,091

762

897

58

156

58

18

54

106

58

77

65

Incidents:

186

411

400

411

650

536

301

353

253

1,078

745

891

99

99

60

25

48

113

63

75

63

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.

 

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.

SOURCES

All modes except for commuter rail:

1990-2001: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, 2004 Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Report (Cambridge, MA: 2005).

2002-10: Ibid, National Transit Database, Safety and Security Time Series Data (Washington, DC: March 2010 Issue), available at http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/data.htm as of Sept. 14, 2011.

Commuter rail:

1990-2000: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, 2004 Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Report (Cambridge, MA: 2005).

2001-14: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, personal communication, Jan. 8, 2015 and June 23, 2016.