Improving Transit Safety
One of the largest public transit systems in the U.S. needed help assessing the operational diversity of their transit network and existing fire/life safety program. The inspections would identify areas for development to implement further recommendations for improvement.
Challenge
One of the largest public transit systems in the U.S. transports hundreds of millions of passengers each year via a complex bus and rail network encompassing nearly 130 miles.
As an aging transit authority, like other public transit systems, the operating environment poses certain risks to employees, customers, emergency responders, and the communities it serves as a result of the high hazard nature of its operations. Providing service through a diverse mix of aging infrastructure and state-of-the-art assets, this vast transit system recognized the need to examine its system safety practices, including those for fire/life safety and hazard identification and control.
The transit system called upon the fire/life safety experts of ADS System Safety Consulting, a dss+ company, to assess the operational diversity of its transit network and to address its existing fire/life safety program needs with the goal of implementing potential improvements that would take the operation into the future.
dss+Approach
The team of experts from ADS System Safety Consulting, a dss+ company, created and administered a comprehensive fire/life safety inspection program based on relevant federal, state and local building codes and regulations. The team developed and used comprehensive inspection forms identifying regulatory requirements and best practices and completed hundreds of fire/life safety inspections of bus, rail, administrative, maintenance, support facilities and infrastructures, including operations and maintenance facilities, storage yards, garages, stations, tunnels, vehicles, fire/life safety systems, and other critical assets.
The inspections identified both fire/life and general safety hazards as well as any areas of regulatory non-compliance. They then documented all findings through formal reports including photos of identified noncompliance issues and hazards. From there, the team employed a risk-based methodology to prioritize necessary corrective actions. The results of the inspections were presented to the Executive Leadership of the transit system for action.
Assignment
To assess the system’s diverse assets and operations, address the existing fire/life safety program, and to create recommended improvements for implementation.
Offering
Operatinal Risk Management Consulting
Impact
- Established a best in class fire/life safety program.
- Completed hundreds of fire/life safety inspections and assessments of facilities, stations, yards, shops, offices, tunnels, vehicles, and battery electric bus charging stations.
- The fire/life safety program improved employee, customer, public and emergency responder safety and response capabilities throughout the region.