Transit and Freight Safety and Security

Every weekday in the United States more than 7 million people board a rail transit vehicle. Rail transit is considered one of the safest modes of transportation, but incidents such as the recent collision between two transit trains in Washington, DC, raise questions about the safety of rail transit and the government's role in ensuring its safety. This book examines the safety record of rail transit and the division of responsibilities for ensuring the safety of rail transit operations, with an emphasis on the role of the federal government. Discussed, herein, are the different types of rail transit systems and the condition of those systems, statistics on the safety record of rail transit operations, and the roles of federal, state, and local entities responsible for ensuring the safety of rail transit.