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Public Works Committee approves update to county transit safety plan
Summary
Washington County’s Public Works Committee unanimously approved updates to the county’s Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan, noting the agency already uses six of 10 recommended assault-mitigation tools and will incorporate minor updates tied to a provider change.
Washington County’s Public Works Committee voted to approve an updated Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) on Dec. 15, 2025, after staff summarized required federal updates and local mitigations.
The update was presented as an annual housekeeping and compliance action. Speaker 3 said the Federal Transit Administration published the PTASP final rule on 07/19/2018 and that the county’s original PTASP was approved by the committee on 11/25/2020; subsequent updates require committee approval. The presenter told the committee that FTA General Directive 24-1 required a safety risk assessment addressing assaults on transit workers and that the county included that assessment in the plan appendices.
Why it matters: the PTASP documents the county’s safety-management processes for federally funded transit service and provides FTA-required evidence that the agency assesses and mitigates risks to drivers and riders.
Key details: staff reported Washington County Transit currently uses six of the 10 FTA-recommended assault-mitigation tools: de-escalation training, operating policies and procedures, audio/video surveillance, covert/overt emergency alarms, automatic vehicle location and communications protocols. A signage tool — informing riders about video surveillance and assault penalties — was proposed in a prior update and is reflected in the plan materials. Staff also noted the safety-risk assessment and related logs are included in plan appendices.
Speaker 3 summarized the federal-provincial context, saying, “On 07/19/2018, FTA published the Federal Transportation Agency Safety Plan final rule…[and] FTA issued General Directive 24-1 stating that transit agencies subject to PTASP must conduct a safety risk assessment to identify risk mitigations for assaults on transit workers.”
Outcome: Speaker 1 made a motion to approve the PTASP update (mover recorded in the meeting exchange), and the committee voted unanimously ‘aye.’ Speaker 2 announced the motion carries. The committee recorded the motion/second exchange naming Supervisor Mikulik and Supervisor Stewart during the vote sequence, and no member voiced opposition.
Next steps: Committee approval records the PTASP update in the county’s file and satisfies the committee-level sign-off required for the current reporting period. Staff indicated the PTASP will be re-assessed next year with the county’s new service provider and that future modifications may come with provider-related information.
Sources: Presentation and motion recorded at the Washington County Public Works Committee meeting on Dec. 15, 2025.
