Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Streetsblog

How Much Will New Federal Safety Mandates Cost Transit Agencies?

This transportation bill, it's just full of not-so-fun surprises for city dwellers.

false

While the bill more or less maintained overall funding for transit agencies, Ben Kabak at Network blog Second Avenue Sagas is concerned about the impact of new safety mandates for subway systems, which he says are unnecessary:

As I’ve mentioned before, a few Washington politicians led by Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski have decided that DC’s problems are everyone’s. When a few high-profile Metro crashes, caused generally by human incompetence and a poorly-designed system, made headlines, Mikulski sprung into action, and for three years, she’s been trying to foist federal safety standards onto subway systems that just do not need them.

Finally — and unfortunately — she succeeded this year, and the new transportation bill contains the National Public Transportation Safety Program. As with many federal mandates, these underfunded requirements will put some burden on local transit agencies. Once President Obama signs the Transportation Bill, the Secretary of Transportation will promulgate interim safety standards and a certification process. State agencies that want federal dollars will have to comply with these regulations or else forfeit the federal investments.

It’s telling that all representatives in praise of these standards cite Washington’s accident record. In New York, we’re far less concerned with such safety issues but we’re going to have to pay anyway. Sometimes, no policy might be better than a bad one.

The bill does include $60 million in funding for agencies to spend bringing themselves into compliance. But Kabak is not confident that's enough to make these already cash-strapped agencies whole, calling the funding "laughable."

With these safety regs, Mikulski was responding to the nine deaths in the 2009 DC Metro crash. Now try to imagine what would happen if Congress responded proportionally to America's 34,000 annual traffic deaths. They probably wouldn't be slashing funds for Safe Routes to School.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Riding in Riverside shares, from personal experience, why auto dependence is such a burden if you don't make much money. The Overhead Wire, inspired by a recent case in Cincinnati, outlines some of the history of politicians attacking specific rail projects in their own regions. And UrbanIndy tries to understand what the new federal transportation bill means for Indianapolis.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

New DOT Report Questions Daylighting As Council Bill Gains Steam

Is DOT saying cars blocking your view is safe?

January 18, 2025

Larry Penner, Federal Transit Official and Letter Writer, is Dead

The former federal transit official, who had a second career as one of the most prolific writers of letters to the editors of scores of area newspapers, died on Thursday.

January 17, 2025

BLUNDER ROAD: Garden State has Spent $1M in Failed Bid to Block Congestion Pricing

Jersey pols have spent big and talked big on their anti-congestion pricing efforts as their own transit agency has fallen into disrepair.

January 17, 2025

Congestion Pricing Gets Kids To School On Time, Data Shows

Data shared with Streetsblog shows school buses traveling faster and being late less since congestion pricing began.

January 17, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Fun in the Sun Edition

The mayor is going down to Mar-a-Lago to meet with President-elect Trump, eh? Plus other news.

January 17, 2025
See all posts