Metro has made significant progress in preventing passenger injuries since the start of General Manager John Catoe’s first full fiscal year at the helm of the transit agency.
Rail passenger injuries have dropped 44 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 2008, which began in July, from the same period the year before, according to a Metro safety report scheduled to be presented to a Board of Directors committee Thursday.
Injuries that occurred on station platforms or in Metro parking lots dropped 38 percent, escalator injuries dropped 50 percent, and there were 43 percent fewer incidents of fire on the rail line than during the previous year.
Bus passenger injuries fell 18 percent, and preventable bus collisions declined by 8 percent to 653, the report said.
Non-preventable bus collisions, or accidents in which the bus driver was found not to be at fault, rose 8 percent to 1,121.
“The bus environment is different from rail,” said Ron Keele, Metro’s new chief safety officer. “Buses are in mixed traffic, and anything can happen — cars can cut them off, trucks can cut them off.”
Catoe pledged to improve safety when he assumed the top position at the transit agency in January 2007, shortly after Metro suffered several worker fatalities on the rail line, but was beleaguered in the first month of his tenure by two Metrobus accidents that resulted in three pedestrian deaths.
The safety plan he implemented, which aims to instill a stronger safety culture and cut work-related injuries and accidents in half by 2011, was lauded by the National Transportation Safety Board earlier this year.
Rail line supervisors now issue weekly bulletins to train operators with safety updates and reminders, and senior bus operators hold regular sessions with trainers to recommend safety training techniques.
The agency also recently installed debris collectors on the tracks and reinstalled newspaper recycling bins on some station platforms — both measures that have helped prevent rail fires, officials said.
Nevertheless, Catoe acknowledged last week that rail operators have opened railcar doors before the train has fully reached the platform at least 13 times this year.
The safety violation is one of Metro’s most serious and appears to have escalated since the agency began a new policy of opening railcar doors manually three weeks ago. The incidents have not resulted in any passenger injuries.
Metro has fired one operator, suspended eight and put two on administrative leave because of the violations.
