Passenger Rail Safety

In America's cities and beyond, nothing connects us to work, play and each other like public transit, today's safest, most reliable way to travel.

Passenger rail consistently offers people the safest transportation available. Ridership is projected to rise by 3.5% annually, nearly doubling over the next 20 years*. Sustaining that safety record is vital. Operation Lifesaver's free outreach programs offer drivers, pedestrians and communities critical rail safety education to stay safe around trains and railroad rights-of-way.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) estimates that 35 million times each weekday, people use public transportation. Such heavy traffic means that incidents - people and vehicles colliding with public transit trains - sometimes happen. At Operation Lifesaver, we know that safety education can help prevent many of those incidents.

Operation Lifesaver's partnership with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), initiated in 2002, makes possible effective educational outreach programs for transit systems.

• New Jersey Transit's teen driving program, developed with Operation Lifesaver, teaches safe driving practices around trains and buses.
• Atlanta's Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) partnered with Georgia Operation Lifesaver on an awareness campaign warning distracted pedestrians to stay alert and stay alive.
• An aggressive public awareness campaign with Texas Operation Lifesaver before the opening of Austin's Capital MetroRail system helped with its incident-free start. 

Rail safety education can, and does, save lives.  Operation Lifesaver's goal is to help sustain passenger rail - affordable, accessible and reliable - as a leader in American transportation safety.

*AASHTO Ridership Forecasts 2009

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Read Lorraine DePugh's story - New Jersey Transit commuter train operator