DATE: 10/01/2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Public Works Department
2025-374
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBJECT:
APPROVE AND ADOPT THE AMENDED CITY OF CORONA PUBLIC
TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SAFETY PLAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks that the Council approve the updates to the adopted City of Corona Transit Service (CCTS) Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP). The plan must be reviewed annually, and significant changes require City Council approval.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council approve and adopt the amended City of Corona Transit Service Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
On July 19, 2018, the FTA published the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) Final Rule (49 C.F.R. Part 673), which requires certain public transportation systems that receive federal funds under FTA’s Urbanized Area Formula Grants to develop safety plans which include processes and procedures for implementing the Safety Management Systems (SMS) which is attached to the CCTS PTASP as an Addendum.
Per 49 U.S.C. 5307, the CCTS is a qualified public transportation system; as such, CCTS receives annual entitlements of program funds to operate its fixed route (Corona Cruiser) and demand response services (Dial-A-Ride). In compliance with the 2018 FTA PTASP Final Rule, City staff prepared the CCTS PTASP. On April 15, 2020, the City Council approved the CCTS PTASP, and as required by the FTA, staff submitted the plan to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which was certified on September 3, 2020. On December 12, 2022, the City Council approved the updated plan, which incorporated requirements to comply with 49 U.S. Code 5329(d) to include infectious disease prevention protocols, resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic and safety performance targets.
About the Safety Plan
The development and implementation of the PTASP Final Rule is to ensure that public transportation systems are safe by establishing the four pillars of the safety management systems:
1. Safety Management Policy:
Safety objectives
Confidential employee reporting program
Organizational accountabilities and safety responsibilities, including the designation of a Chief Safety Officer
2. Safety Risk Management
Processes for hazard identification, risk assessment, and mitigation
3. Safety Assurance
Process for safety performance monitoring and measurement
4. Safety Promotion
Comprehensive safety training program and communication The CCTS PTASP was adopted and is a local policy in conformance with state and federal regulations to ensure that the City will perform the necessary risk management activities, monitor results, and adjust as needed to maintain a safe transportation system.
The implementation of this plan is a shared responsibility between the City and its contractor, MV Transportation. Therefore, in collaboration, the City and MV Transportation will continually identify, monitor, and mitigate various safety risks and hazards present in the transit operating environment. In addition, per the PTASP Final Rule, the transit operators are required to set safety performance targets based on the safety performance measures established by the National Public Transportation Safety Plan (NPTSP). The NPTSP safety performance measures are for the following categories: Fatalities, Injuries, Safety Events, and System Reliability (State of Good Repair).
The approved CCTS PTASP is reviewed annually by staff in partnership with its transit operations contractor; part of the review process includes collecting data and information from its operations, maintenance, and public transportation services to monitor the Agency’s safety performance. If no amendments to the plan are needed, City staff certifies the CCTS PTASP (annually) via FTA’s Certifications and Assurances process so that the Plan continues to meet the requirements of the PTASP Final Rule. Additionally, as part of the regulatory process, the effectiveness of the safety plan is reviewed by and under the FTA’s Triennial Review process.
ANALYSIS:
The FTA conducts a Triennial Review of all transit agencies receiving FTA funds. The City is a recipient of FTA funds; therefore, it must comply with this requirement. The review helps the FTA determine whether its recipients are administering FTA-funded programs in accordance with U.S.C. Chapter 53 of Title 49, Federal Transit Law provisions. The review assesses recipient management practices and program implementation to ensure that the FTA programs are administered in accordance with FTA requirements and are meeting program objectives.
CCTS had its 2-day FTA Triennial Review on July 21st and 22nd, 2025, which covers a three-year period. The Triennial Review covers twenty-three compliance categories, of which twenty are applicable to CCTS. CCTS is in compliance with nineteen of the twenty applicable compliance areas. During the review, it was determined that the Accountable Executive named in the CCTS PTASP must be updated any time there is a change.
Therefore, CCTS received the following deficiency: CCTS PTASP not signed by the Accountable Executive. The change in the Accountable Executive is considered a significant change, and the Chief Safety Officer (Transit Program manager) must have a direct line of reporting to the Accountable Executive. The CCTS PTASP approved in December 2022 was signed by Anne Turner, the previous Community Services Director.
Most recently, with a reorganization effective January 1, 2025, transit services moved to the Public Works Department. As a result, the Public Works Director assumes the role of Accountable Executive. Further, the Accountable Executive must have a name associated with the position; simply having the position does not comply with the requirements. The updated CCTS PTASP now reflects Savat Khamphou, the Public Works Director, as the Accountable Executive. This deficiency must be corrected and closed by November 30, 2025.
In addition, prior to Council approval pursuant to 49 U.S. Code 5329(d)—Public Transit Agency Safety Plan regulation, transit agencies are required to make the updated plan available to the Safety Committee for review and approval and make necessary changes, additions, or deletions. The Safety Committee is comprised of City transit staff and the transit operations contractor (dispatchers, drivers, maintenance, and management). The plan was made available for two weeks on August 28, 2025. No comments were received from the Safety Committee, and the updates to the 2025 PTASP are considered reviewed and approved for the changes.
Accordingly, below is a summary list of revisions and updates.
1. Updated names and titles of the Accountable Executive; reassigned to Savat Khamphou, Public Works Director (previously Anne Turner, Community Services Director).
2. Updated names and titles of CCTS staff and MV Transportation staff throughout.
3. Defined the roles of the Accountable Executive and the Chief Safety Officer.
4. Updated safety performance targets, in compliance with 49 U.S. Code 5329(d) – Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan.
5. Updated the addendum, the Safety Management System.
This report includes a complete redline and a clean copy of the revisions made to the CCTS PTASP. Staff recommend that the City Council approve the amended CCTS PTASP. If approved, it will become effective immediately and be submitted to the California Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Approval of the Safety Plan will have no financial impact.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the text changes and updates to the City of Corona Transit Safety Plan may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action merely approves and adopts the amended CCTS Safety Plan. Since there is no possibility that adopting this action will have a significant effect on the environment, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: SUDESH PAUL, TRANSIT PROGRAM MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: SAVAT KHAMPHOU, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Exhibit 1 – Redline Version of the amended CCTS Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan
2. Exhibit 2 – Clean Version of the amended CCTS Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan