PTSB Annual Report 2010

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The Public Transportation Safety Board (PTSB) has broad,legislatively mandated powers and duties to improvepublic transportation safety for transportation systems thatreceive funds under the Statewide Mass TransportationOperating Assistance Program (STOA).

The PTSB is statutorily responsible for investigating andanalyzing serious bus, subway and commuter rail acci-dents and recommending actions to reduce the possibilityof similar accidents from occurring. The PTSBs powersand duties include:

Establishing accident reporting, investigation andanalysis procedures;

Conducting com-prehensive accidentinvestigations involv-ing public transporta-tion systems, whetherpublicly or privatelyowned;Taking a proactiverole in public safetyby reviewing, approv-ing and monitoringsystem safety pro-gram plans submit-ted by each transpor-tation system eligiblefor STOA;Analyzing criticalsafety issues and

concerns; andRecommending theestablishment of newsafety legislation, rulesand regulations and transportation system proce-dures, based on findings from accident investiga-tions, special studies and comprehensive audits.

Board Membership

Membership on the PTSB is determined by Section216 of the Transportation Law. The PTSB may consistof seven members and a chairman. Members of theBoard in 2010 were: Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee,New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)and Chair of the Safety Board; Gary McVoy, Ph.D.,Chair Designee (through October 2010), Robert Sack,Chair Designee (as of November 2010), David Berke,Licensed Professional Engineer, John S. Delaney, VicePresident, LeRoy Dedicated Logistics; Dennis Fitzgerald,Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) ExecutiveDirector (retired); Barry L. Kluger, Inspector General,

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA); and

Daniel J. Texeira, Sr., Vice President, Lincoln BrokerageCorporation.

The PTSB generally meets in public session on the thirThursday of every other month. In 2010, the PTSB metformally six (6) times: January 21, March 18, May 20, J15, September 16 and December 2, 2010. During 2010the Board approved 154 rail accident reports and 54 baccident reports. Among the 208 reports approved by tPTSB, 53 rail accidents and 31 bus accidents occurredin 2009. Additionally, the PTSB approved two rail and 5bus resolutions of adoption for System Safety Program

Plans as required by the PTSB Regulation.

Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor Joan McDonald, Commission

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Legislated Duties of the PTSB

The PTSB Executive Director (DonaldBaker through October 2010; CliffordThomas as of October 2010) isresponsible for directing staff activities,including conducting accidentinvestigations; reviewing system safetyprogram plans; preparing commuterrail, subway and bus accident reports;monitoring transportation operatorscompliance with final PTSB actions;maintaining PTSB records; preparingspecial analytical and researchstudies; and performing other tasks

deemed appropriate. The PTSBs staffresources are within NYSDOTs Officeof Modal Safety & Security, PassengerCarrier Safety and Rail SafetyBureaus, as follows: Bus AccidentInvestigations: G. Mike Smith,Director, Passenger Carrier SafetyBureau (through October 2010);John S. Fabian, Chief Investigator;Michael Gluskin, Investigator;Harry Gerham, Investigator; MikhailPalanker, Investigator; Phyllis LaCross,Secretary (through October 2010).

Rail Accident Investigations: CliffordThomas, Director, Rail Safety BureaJerry Shook, Chief Investigator andState Safety Oversight ProgramManager, Rail Safety Bureau (througSeptember 2010); Robert Maraldo,Senior Investigator; O.J. Guzman,Investigator (through October 2010)David Hess, Investigator; StephenTrudell, SSO Program Manager (asof September 2010); Sharon ToccoSecretary (as of October 2010).

Page 2 PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOAR

Notification of Bus Accidents

Every public transportationbus system under the PTSBsjurisdiction must give the PTSBnotice of the following occurrences:

All accidents that result in afatality;

All accidents that result in fiveor more injuries that requiremedical attention; and

All accidents caused bymechanical failure, including,but not limited to, all fires thatoccur in revenue service thatrequire passenger evacuationand/or response by the policeor fire departments.

Notification of Rail Accidents

Each public transportation systemoperating a commuter rail, lightrail or subway system must givethe PTSB notice of the followingaccidents:

All collisions and derailments(except those minor incidentsresulting from shifting cars andmaking up trains in yards);

All accidents at gradecrossings;

All accidents that result in a

fatality;

All accidents that result in twoor more injuries that requiremedical attention; and

All emergency passengerevacuations.

The PTSB also is designated asthe State Safety Oversight Agencyas required under Federal Transit

Administration regulation 49 CFRPart 659. Under this regulation,rail fixed guideway systems, which

include New York City Transit and

Niagara Frontier TransportationAuthority Metro Rail, have additionreporting requirements that thePTSB has adopted that include:

Property damage to rail transitvehicle, non-rail transit vehicleother rail transit propertyor facilities and non-transitproperty that equals or exceed$25,000; and

A collision with an individual oa rail right of way.

PTSB is designated asthe State Safety Oversight

Agency as requiredunder Federal Transit

Administration regulation 49

CFR Part 659.

The PTSB is responsible forcommuter rail, light rail, heavy rail(subway) and transit bus accidentinvestigations. All accidents that meetthe accident criteria stated belowmust be reported immediately by the

transportation systems to the Board.Accidents that meet the PTSB criteriarepresent a small portion that can beas low as one percent annually of allaccidents and safety-related incidentsencountered by the properties. The

PTSB investigations aim to assessthe most serious accidents to ensutransit systems have appropriateprocedures and policies to avoidsimilar accidents in the future.

Staff

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Investigation Process

The accident investigation processbegins with the transportation

agency notifying the PTSB of anaccident that meets the reportingcriteria.

Investigators are dispatched to theaccident scene for a comprehensiveand detailed examination of theenvironmental and human factors.Analysis produces findings,conclusions and recommendationsthat are issued to the affectedtransportation systems to reduce

the probability of future accidents.The recommendations specifically

address actions to be implementedby the transit systems to correctsafety deficiencies and to improvesafety. The PTSB reviews andmonitors the transit systemsresponses to the recommendationsto ensure that they are properlyexecuted.

Accident numbers and rates inthis annual report may vary fromprevious reports. Contributing

to variances are changes in thereportability of certain accident

types.

Bus accident investigation reportsprocessed by the PTSB duringformal meetings are analyzedto identify trends and specialproblems. In 2010, the PTSB staffinvestigated and reported to theBoard 57 bus accidents and 177rail accidents that met the PTSBsreporting criteria.

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Analysis

PTSB Bus Accident by

Criteria 2010

PTSB Bus

Injuries/

Fatalities 2010

Injuries Fatalities

The following charts and tablesdisplay the distribution of bus and railaccidents reported to the PTSB during2010 based on reporting criteria,injuries and fatalities and primaryprobable cause.

Bus Reporting Criteria Total

Fatality 11

Multiple Injury 21

Mechanical Failure 25

Total Cases 57

Personal Injury Total

Injuries 187

Fatalities 11

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PTSB RailReporting Criteria

TotalCases

Collision w/ Individual 78

Fatalities 74

Grade Crossing 9Collision 6

Derailment 4

Evacuation 4

Multiple Injury 2

Total Cases 177

Page 4 PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOAR

PTSB Bus Accidents

by Cause 2010

PTSB

Rail Accidents

by Criteria 2010

General Probable Cause Total

Bus Driver 18

Equipment 19

Other Vehicle 14

Pedestrian, Bicyclist 2

Miscellaneous 4

Total Cases 57

During 2010, PTSB Rail staff received notificationof 177 accidents that met PTSB state and federareporting criteria. These accidents resulted in74 fatalities and 87 injuries. The following chartssummarize the distributions of these accidentsbased on reporting criteria, injury/fatality andprobable cause.

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Probable Cause Total

Unsafe Action - Individual 110

Trespasser 35

Vehicle Operator 8

Passenger 7

Miscellaneous 5

CREW: Human Failure Inattentiveness 2CREW: Human Failure Operating Procedures 2

CREW: Human Failure Operating Rules 2

CAR EQUIPMENT: Other 1

CAR EQUIPMENT: Trucks 1

CREW: Other 1

OPERATIONS: Other 1

TRACK & SIGNAL: Other 1

TRACK & SIGNAL: Track Component Failure 1

Total Cases 177

PTSB Rail

Accidents by

Probable Cause

2010

PTSB Rail Accidents - Reported

Injury/Fatality 2010

The predominate probablecause found during rail accidentinvestigations relates to non-railactivities over which the propertieshave little or no control. Accidentsinvestigated in 2010 found 94percent were caused by actionstaken by non-rail individuals that

ended in property damage, injuryor death. The table shows thedistribution of the number of caseby primary probable cause. Thechart above futher illustrates thedisparity between rail and non-railcauses.

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Did You Know?

Page 6 PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOAR

Created in 1984, the New YorkState Public Transportation SafetyBoard was the first state transitoversight agency of its kind in thenation. It has more than 130 transitoperators under its jurisdiction,tied directly to the $3 billion STOAfund distribution program.

New York State transit operatorscarry one-third of the nationstransit riders per year.

First opened in 1904, the NewYork City subway system today

includes more than 842 miles oftrack and carries 5 million peopleper day in more than 6352 subwaycars. It is the largest system in theworld.

One-quarter of all transit servicesin the nation are provided in New

York State.

The NYS PTSB Bus AccidentInvestigation Training ForIdentifying Safety Hazards(BAITFISH) certification classeshave been taught to more than

1,000 participants. The classesinclude accident investigation,determination of accidentpreventability and self-auditingtechniques without any chargeto the students. Certificationis required for all bus carriersreceiving STOA funds.

In 2011 amid rising gasolineprices, an individual using publictransportation can save onaverage, $9,904 per year (using$3.47/gal; 23.4 mpg; and 15,000miles/yr) vs. driving.

NEW YORK STATE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of Modal Safety & Security50 Wolf Road, POD 53

Albany, NY 12232

Phone: (518) 485-2449Fax: (518) 457-6513https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/operating/osss/ptsb