FTA issues more safety directives to MBTA

The Federal Transit Administration yesterday issued eight new safety directives to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority following the administration completed a months-long safety management inspection.

In its report, the FTA said that, since January 2019, MBTA has experienced a higher overall rate of reportable safety events and a higher rate of derailments on both heavy- and light-rail service compared to the U.S. transit industry average. During that period, the agency experienced increases in severity of incidents, significant property damage, extended service disruptions and serious passenger injuries, including one fatality, they wrote.

FTA directed MBTA to:

• improve management of operating and maintenance policies and monitoring of rail operations;
• improve management of the safety committee process and employee safety reporting program;
• expedite implementation of the agency’s safety management systems, including the development of procedures, safety management training and safety risk assessment;
• balance demands from operations and capital projects;
• address the pattern of safety incidents and interim safety findings concerning lapsed training certifications of rail personnel;
• address a similar pattern of safety incidents within the MBTA's Operations Control Center;
  
• address a similar pattern of safety incidents regarding unintended and uncontrolled movements of disabled trains; and
• address deficiencies in personal protective equipment and right of way safety.

The FTA also issued two safety directives to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, which oversees MBTA's safety programs. In the report, FTA officials noted it will continue to monitor the DPU’s technical capacity to perform safety oversight after finding 16 incidents of noncompliance during an October 2019 audit.

The FTA directed the DPU to:

• increase technical capacity and ability to oversee MBTA’s corrective actions; and
• take actions to oversee MBTA’s process of addressing those safety incidents.

The report follows the FTA's months-long investigation into MBTA's safety practices. In June, the FTA issued multiple safety directives to both MBTA and DPU regarding the investigation's findings.

However, since then, the FTA has found that the MBTA has not developed the tools necessary to support safety risk management, while DPU’s “at times inadequate” oversight has made safety issues worse, officials wrote.

“FTA … found that MBTA does not have sufficient capabilities for identifying priorities to address safety concerns from the agency’s operations, maintenance and capital project delivery programs,” the report stated. “Throughout the [investigation], FTA found that while MBTA leadership was aware of many of the issues raised in the special directives, they had not evaluated the information as is necessary to effectively assess systemwide safety and prioritize action.”

“Despite MBTA’s recent safety performance, FTA determined that DPU has not been actively engaged in overseeing the MBTA’s safety management system, including safety risk management and safety assurance activities,” they added.

In particular, the FTA found that MBTA has not effectively balanced safety-critical operations and maintenance activities with its efforts to deliver on capital projects. While the agency’s capital budget has more than doubled since fiscal-year 2018, the agency has continued to make millions of dollars in cuts to its operations and maintenance budget, including the removal of hundreds of jobs, the report stated.

In January, the MBTA executive leadership team and board of directors agreed to transfer $500 million from the operating budget to the capital budget. FTA officials explained that while MBTA leadership claimed an "aggressive" capital program would allow for better safety, capacity and reliability in the future, as well as a better state of repair, the transit agency’s current assets and infrastructure continued to deteriorate to the point of failure.

"The combination of overworked staff and aging assets has resulted in the organization being overwhelmed, chronic fatigue for key positions in the agency, lack of resources for training and supervision, and leadership priorities that emphasize meeting capital project demands above passenger operations, preventive maintenance, and even safety," FTA officials wrote.

To read the full report, click here.