On September 25, 2024, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued General Directive 24–1 (General Directive) mandating that transit agencies assess the risks posed by assaults on their workforce and report the results back to FTA within 90 days (i.e. by December 26, 2024). The General Directive, which was published by Federal Register Notice (89 Fed. Reg. 78,431), is part of FTA’s ongoing comprehensive efforts to improve transit worker safety.

The General Directive mandates that transit agencies that are subject to FTA’s Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) regulations (49 C.F.R. Part 673) undertake a thorough assessment of the risks posed by assaults on their workforce, utilizing the Safety Management System (SMS) processes detailed in their Agency Safety Plan (ASP). FTA notes that the General Directive applies only to agencies that are subject to the PTASP Final Rule. Thus, recipients that receive funds only under 49 U.S.C. 5310 and/or 49 U.S.C. 5311 are excluded from the General Directive, unless they operate a rail fixed guideway public transportation system.

Each agency is required to conduct a safety risk assessment specifically focused on assaults against transit workers. Should this assessment reveal an unacceptable level of risk, agencies must develop and implement strategies to mitigate that risk and bolster the safety of their employees. For those agencies operating in large urbanized areas with populations exceeding 200,000, compliance with PTASP requirements is required, including the involvement of a joint labor-management Safety Committee in the identification of safety risk mitigations and strategies. Transit agencies’ submissions must detail their methods for assessing, mitigating, and monitoring the safety risks associated with assaults on transit workers.

Transit agencies that have completed a safety risk assessment for assaults on transit workers in the 12 months preceding the publication of this General Directive need not conduct a new safety risk assessment for the purposes of this General Directive. Instead, the General Directive permits agencies to submit the results of the recent safety risk assessment in lieu of submitting a new assessment. This exemption applies only to a safety risk assessment conducted using the processes established under 49 CFR 673.25(c) and defined in a transit agency’s ASP.

The binding nature of the General Directive requirements required FTA to go through a notice and comment process. FTA previously published a proposed version of the General Directive on December 20, 2023 (88 Fed. Reg. 88, 213) and solicited comments, which it responds to in the September 25th Notice. The final version is largely the same, except that the period for agencies to submit responses to FTA has been extended to 90 days from 60 days.

If you have questions about the certification rules, please contact Ayelet Hirschkorn, Suzanne Silverman, Charles Spitulnik, Christian Alexander, or Grant Glovin.