City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: July 23, 2024
Agenda Item: 5.F
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Anuj Gupta, Director of Transportation, Department of Transportation, Transit Safety & Training
Subject: Approval of Revisions to Big Blue Bus’ Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan
Recommended Action
Staff Recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA);
2. Approve revisions to adopted Big Blue Bus’s Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan.
Summary
As a recipient of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding, Big Blue Bus (BBB) is required to have an adopted Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP). The PTASP establishes a Safety Management System (SMS) framework that includes strategies to ensure the safety of BBB customers, staff and property as defined by the regulation. BBB’s current PTASP was adopted by the Santa Monica City Council on October 13, 2020, and has been revised to include new requirements under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make transit safer for both transit workers and passengers. Detailed description of the revisions to BBB’s PTASP can be found on page 3 of the attached Big Blue Bus Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan.
Discussion
The PTASP regulation (49 CFR part 673), requires transit agencies that receive FTA grants to develop and implement an Agency Safety Plan (ASP) that establishes 2 of 4
processes and procedures to support implementation of a Safety Management System (SMS). An SMS is a comprehensive, collaborative approach to managing safety. It brings management and labor together to control risk better, detect and correct safety problems earlier, share and analyze data more effectively, and measure safety performance more precisely.
The SMS integrates and harmonizes the various elements of a safety plan so that they work together to continuously manage safety risks throughout all aspects of a transit agency’s operations. The SMS is based on the following four components that continuously work together to support a safe, reliable transportation system:
No. 1 - Safety Management Policy
Safety management policy establishes senior management’s commitment to continuously improve safety.
No. 2 - Safety Risk Management
Safety Risk Management (SRM) involves identifying, evaluating, and devising means to eliminate, mitigate, or accept hazards. Since not all hazards can be eliminated given the resources at hand, the goal with SRM is to mitigate hazards to a level as low as reasonably practicable.
No. 3 - Safety Assurance
Safety Assurance evaluates the continued effectiveness of implemented risk control strategies and supports the identification of new hazards. The Agency’s safety assurance processes continuously monitor its operations.
No. 4 - Safety Promotion
Safety Promotion utilizes training and communication to create a positive safety culture within all levels of the workforce and reinforce that everyone has a role in promoting safety.
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On April 9, 2024, FTA published the first major update to the PTASP regulation. These updates are part of a continuing effort to improve transit safety performance on federally supported transit systems, and PTASP is the first rule finalized by FTA under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requirements to make transit safer for both transit workers and passengers. It incorporates Bipartisan Infrastructure law requirements, such as:
• advancing safety management system (SMS) processes,
• increasing frontline transit worker involvement,
• expanding de-escalation training, and
• addressing safety risk, including assaults on transit workers, transit vehiclepedestrian collisions, and infectious disease exposure.
To comply with the recent directives, BBB has updated its PTASP to include:
• Updates to the Safety Committee requirements to involve labor organization representatives for frontline transit workers; and
• Risk reduction measures for transit operations to improve safety by reducing the number and rates of accidents, injuries, and assaults on transit workers; and • Inclusion of the City of Santa Monica’s ATBP and Communicable Disease Exposure Control Plan.
The regulation that governs the PTASP require revisions to be approved by the transit agency’s Board of Directors or an equivalent entity and signed by the Accountable Executive (49 CFR 673.11(a)(1)(ii)). The revisions to the PTASP were reviewed and approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT) Operations Safety Committee on February 26, 2024, and by the DOT Campus Safety Committee on February 28, 2024.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Title of Report
October 13, 2020,
Item: 3A
Adoption of Big Blue Bus Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan 4 of 4
Environmental Review
The adoption of the BBB PTASTP updates is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” The adoption of the PTASP is administrative in nature and would provide a programmatic SMS framework. Therefore, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future.
Prepared By: Liseth Guizar, Transit Safety and Training Manager, Big Blue Bus Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. BBB PTASP REVISED 2024