In response to increased industry interest, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced today that the National Online Dialogue to address the problem of transit worker assaults will remain open until Wednesday, August 31.

The National Online Dialogue presents stakeholders with an opportunity to help FTA identify risk control strategies, impediments to a safe workplace, and possible solutions to these assaults. Recently added discussion topics include passenger education; coordinated efforts with law enforcement; and fare policy, evasion, and enforcement.

Using the information gathered from this publicly-accessible dialogue, the FTA will develop a proposed safety rule to address assaults on bus and rail transit operators as required by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The U.S. Transportation Secretary’s Transit Advisory Committee for Safety (TRACS) issued a report on this subject in 2015.

For more information on how to participate in the transit worker assault dialogue, please watch the FTA’s informational webinar.