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On Monday, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) introduced the Public Transportation Safety Program Act of 2010 (H.R. 4643), which proposes to provide the federal government jurisdiction over transit-rail safety.

Co-sponsored by Reps. Peter DeFazio — who chairs the House’s transit subcommittee — and Donna Edwards (D-Md.), H.R. 4643 would establish a national public transportation safety program. Currently, the Federal Transit Administration manages a State Safety Oversight program that places transit-rail safety responsibility on states, but the legal authorities of various state oversight agencies are limited and “vary widely,” said Oberstar in a prepared statement.

So, transit ridership continues to grow nationwide, but the “state-of-good-repair” condition of many transit agencies’ systems hasn't kept up with the influx of new riders, he said.

“Maintenance levels at many public transit agencies have decreased to a point where older, less safe rail cars, track, electrical equipment and other assets are left in service long after their useful life,” said Oberstar. “Currently, there are no nationwide mandatory minimum standards for rail transit safety. At a very basic level, we need to ensure that passengers feel completely safe as they board rail transit systems.”

Oberstar plans to work with the U.S. Department of Transportation and other legislators on the bill while Congress considers a long-term surface transportation reauthorization measure. H.R. 4643 was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.