SEPTA announced additional safety initiatives in conjunction with recommendations from the FTA.
SEPTA has announced that it will implement additional security initiatives and corrective action plans in response to a recent inspection done by the FTA that ordered the transit agency to make improvements.
The FTA maintains federal oversight over SEPTA’s operations and recently conducted an inspection of SEPTA’s safety protocols, practices and processes between August 2023 and January 2024. As part of the inspections the FTA was at SEPTA locations inspecting them and interviewing their employees, SEPTA said in a statement.
On Monday, a Safety Management Inspection report was published by the FTA that outlines the findings and directives SEPTA is required to implement, primarily as it relates to safer working conditions for workers, address challenges with scheduling and training, and address bus and rail safety issues.
“The safety and security of customers and employees is the top priority for the SEPTA Board and the entire Authority,” said SEPTA Board Chair Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. “How we staff our operations, train our employees, and ensure the most effective policies are in place and followed, all contribute to a safer SEPTA system.”
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The FTA in total had 16 findings for SEPTA including:
SEPTA launched a number of initiatives prior to the recent FTA engagement aimed at ensuring safety and security of the system. Those initiatives include:
- Significant investments to attract and retain SEPTA Transit Police.
- SEPTA Police have fully launched a Virtual Patrol Unit to monitor live security camera feeds and dispatch officers to incidents more quickly.
- Connect audio to cameras at the front of the bus so they record threats against bus operators, to aid efforts to enhance security for SEPTA’s frontline workers.
- Testing is underway for bulletproof shields for operators.
- On board fare collection policy has been updated to mitigate interactions that put operators in confrontational situations.
- Increase staff for frontline positions as well as critical support roles.
According to SEPTA, the FTA requested and reviewed over 1,500 documents from SEPTA and PennDOT and conducted over 150 interviews during the inspection.
