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The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee recently voted unanimously in favor of adopting the Public Transportation Safety Act of 2010, the Obama Administration’s transit safety bill. The legislation now will go to the Senate floor for a vote.

The vote is the “first major step in untying the hands of the Federal Transportation Administration and allowing us to implement national safety standards,” said Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff in a prepared statement.

The legislation would authorize the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish federal safety standards for transit-rail systems.

“Safety is the number one priority for the public transportation industry and we welcome the effort to make one of the safest modes of transportation — rail transit — even safer,” said American Public Transportation Association President William Millar in a prepared statement. “The bill also recognizes the importance of having capital assets of transit systems in good repair and of having asset management programs that track capital assets. However, in order to ensure that transit operators have the most up-to-date vehicles and facilities, we urge Congress to do several important things. First, it needs to increase federal investment in public transportation and second, Congress needs to pass a six-year surface transportation authorization bill as soon as possible.”