Embedded Dataset Excel:

Dataset Excel:

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. 

Transit vehicle-miles in this table differ from those reported in Chapter 1. The American Public Transit Association, which is the source for the vehicle-miles table in Chapter 1, includes all transit systems, while Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Annual Report covers only directly operated urban transit systems. 

Prior to the 2000 edition, Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Report was entitled Safety Management Information Statistics (SAMIS) annual report.

Data from 2002 on includes only transit modes reported in the National Transit Database and excludes commuter rail.

1990 - 2001 Includes only directly operated transit, purchased transportation (contracted) incuded from 2002 onward.

Description:

KEY: R = revised; U = data are not available.

^a Totals do not include data for cable car, inclined plane, jitney, and ferry boat. This data appears in the footnotes for table 2-34.

^b The drop in the number of Incidents, Accidents, Injuries, and Property damage beginning from 2002 is due largely to a change in definitions by the Federal Transit Administration, particularly the definition of Injuries. The Injury threshold for filing an incident report changed to be two or more Injuries requiring immediate medical transportation away from the scene, or one or more Injuries requiring immediate medical transportation away from the scene in the case of incidents at grade crossings or along rail right-of-ways in 2002. Previously, any Injury was reportable. There were National Transportation Database definition changes made in 2008 to simplify the injury thresholds for filing an incident report. FTA simplified this threshold to being simply one or more Injuries requiring immediate medical transportation away from the scene. This simplification resulted in larger reported number in Injuries since 2008. Commuter rail data is now derived from the Federal Railroad Administration's Rail Accident Incident Reporting System (RAIRS). The threshold for reporting Property damage was changed from $1,000 in transit Property damage to $7,500 in total property damage from 2002 to 2007. In 2008, the property damage threshold was changed to $25,000. This change in coverage caused a large drop in the number of accidents beginning in 2008.

^c Accidents include collisions with other vehicles, objects, and people (except suicides), and derailments/buses going off the road. Incidents include Accidents plus personal casualties (inside vehicles, inside stations, and boarding and alighting vehicle) and fires. 

^d Fatality and Injury 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 Vehicle miles.  

^e Total does not include Property damage for cable car, inclined plane, jitney, and ferry boat, which were: 1990-$335,000; 1991-$410,000; 1992-$288,000; 1993-$221,000; 1994-$322,000; 1995-$3,263,000; 1996-$157,000; 1997-$67,000; 1998-$24,000; 1999-$104,000; 2000-$77,000; 2001-$1,605,000; 2002-$254,000; 2003-$15,348,000; 2004-$604,000; 2005-$44,000; 2006-$555,000; 2007-$1,234,000; 2008-$1,065,000; 2009-$274,607; 2010-$250,000; 2011-$75,500; 2012-$44,955; 2013-$123,500; 2014-$15,600; 2015-$22,500; 2016-$125,067; 2017-$1,052,233; 2018-$760,000; 2019-$150,000. The large increase in property damage reported in 2003 is a result of the Staten Island Ferry Incident on Oct. 16, 2003 which resulted in $15,000,000 of Property damage. is a result of the Staten Island Ferry Incident on Oct. 16, 2003 which resulted in $15,000,000 of Property damage.

*Includes hurricane Sandy

Source:

All except for property damage:

1990-2001: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Report (Cambridge, MA: Annual Issues), available at https://www.volpe.dot.gov/ as of Mar. 23, 2009.

2002-23: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Safety & Security Time Series Data (Washington, DC: Monthly Issues), available at https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/ntd-data as of Nov. 21, 2024.

Property damage:

1990-2007: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Report (Cambridge, MA: Annual Issues), available at https://www.volpe.dot.gov/ as of Mar. 23, 2009.

 2008-16: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration (using data reported to the National Transit Database), personal communications, Aug. 21, 2022.