The Federal Transit Administration announced a new directive to require transit agencies nationwide to address assaults against transit workers.
General Directive 24-1 is the first one to be issued by FTA. It requires more than 700 transit agencies nationwide to take action to protect frontline transit workers from the risk of assaults.
“Frontline transit workers keep our nation moving every day, and the Biden-Harris Administration is making sure they have the safe workplace they deserve,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an announcement. “The General Directive we are announcing today will build on previous actions we have taken to address the unacceptable level of assaults on transit workers and further protect these essential employees as they perform their important jobs.”
From 2013 to 2021, the National Transit Database documented a 120 percent increase in the number of assaults against transit workers. The directive requires transit agencies to identify strategies to mitigate that risk and improve transit worker safety if they have an unacceptable level of risk of assaults on transit workers.
