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Later this month, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will begin a series of public meetings to discuss the expansion of single-person train operation (SPTO) to the Red Line.

The SPTO mode, now used on the Blue and Orange lines, enables one person to perform functions once shared by several train attendants, including door operation and train announcements. MBTA has used the mode successfully on the Orange Line since June 2010 and on the Blue Line since 1996 “with no degradation to safety, service or security,” MBTA officials said in a prepared statement.

Savings from SPTO will be “reinvested in improving frequency of service for customers and alleviating crowding,” they said.

Recommended by the Federal Transit Administration as a way to minimize costs, new transportation systems have been designed and built for SPTO in San Francisco, Miami, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Of six cities with subway systems built before 1996, Boston will be the fourth to convert to SPTO.