(Railfanning.org News Wire) — Operation Lifesaver is awarding $134,082 in grants to seven transit agencies to support public safety campaigns that increase transit rail safety awareness and promote safe behaviors around transit lines.
The Federal Transit Administration funded the grants.
Awards ranged from $14,082 to $20,000, with recipients providing a 25% match. Awardees were selected through a competitive process. These projects are expected to reach thousands of individuals across the country, promoting key safety messages that align with OLI’s transit rail safety education initiatives.
Grant recipients will launch campaigns that feature targeted outreach to high-risk groups such as students, shift workers and those who live near transit lines. Communications efforts will span a variety of platforms, including digital advertising and social media campaigns as well as in-person events and school outreach. Projects will incorporate OLI-approved safety materials, ensuring a unified message of transit rail safety education nationwide.
Fort Worth Transportation Authority will focus its rail safety education efforts on commuter corridors throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, particularly near industrial and logistics centers, schools and colleges.
The project will share rail safety messages through digital media channels popular with young people and provide commercial and industrial drivers with Operation Lifesaver-approved educational materials about Emergency Notification System signs. Additional outreach will include co-branded Operation Lifesaver banners and printed rail safety materials distributed to schools and industrial parks.
Hampton Roads Transit will capitalize on the local spring festival and baseball season by sharing the transit rail safety education message through a light rail vehicle wrap, sponsorship of a Norfolk Tides baseball game, and a social media campaign. The light rail vehicle wrap will feature safety messaging and QR codes with links to additional information and resources.
Partnership with the Norfolk Tides includes playing safety videos during the game, distributing co-branded giveaways and setting a table for volunteers to connect directly with game attendees. Meanwhile, the social media campaign will feature short-form videos, event-based content and geotargeted digital advertising.
NJ Transit will implement an Earbud Safety Awareness Campaign to increase awareness of the risks associated with wearing earbuds and using mobile devices while walking, cycling and driving within and around transit operations. Using targeted outreach, strategic communications and evidence-based safety messaging, NJ Transit will promote safe decision-making, improve situational awareness and encourage individuals to recognize and respond to visual and audible transit warning devices.
Long Island Rail Road will kick off its Safety Post-It Note project with a contest for school-age children to create safety artwork for one of three topics: grade crossing, boarding the train or platform and station safety. The winning submission will be featured on custom Post-It notes.
The competition will help raise awareness of Long Island Rail Road’s Together Railroads And Communities Keeping Safe, or T.R.A.C.K.S., program and share the transit rail safety education message. Promotional efforts will include social media and email campaigns, as well as information on the T.R.A.C.K.S. website.
San Diego Metropolitan Transit System will advance its Making Transit Safe Program to reduce rail crossing incidents not only along its Blue, Green and Orange Lines but at any tracks.
The project will include a custom-wrapped light rail vehicle with transit rail safety messaging and links to OLI resources. It will also include in-person presentations for those who live and go to school near rail lines; public awareness campaigns at local events; partnerships with community organizers; pop-up educational booths; and a social media campaign.
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will reduce unsafe platform behaviors by implementing its Platforms, Not Playgrounds campaign. The project will include in-person outreach through safety tables at key SEPTA stations and age-appropriate transit rail safety presentations at schools located throughout the greater Philadelphia area.
The project will also include additional community events to distribute transit rail safety educational materials, as well as internal events at SEPTA headquarters.
West Virginia University Personal Rapid Transit will work to eliminate trespass incidents, reduce platform-edge hazards and increase passenger understanding of transit rail vehicle emergency communication equipment. The grant will fund enhanced safety signs and boundary markers on platform floors, as well as the deployment of student safety ambassadors, audio safety messages and student-focused digital media campaigns.
Be the first to comment