Dear Coalition Partners,
The ATU NJ State Council and US Senator Robert Menendez will be holding a joint press conference on Monday at Newark Penn Station to push for Federal Legislation to increase protections for transit workers and pedestrians.You are invited to join us at Newark Penn Station on Monday at 11:30am.
Menendez Pushes Legislation to Improve Pedestrian Safety, Protect Bus Operators from Assault
Sen. Menendez recently introduced the Transit Worker and Pedestrian Protection Act with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Reps. Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA-32) and John Katko (R-NY-24). The bipartisan legislation provides $125 million over five years to make critical safety upgrades to reduce the risks of pedestrian strikes and attacks on bus and rail operators.
The Transit Worker and Pedestrian Protection Act gives transit agencies two years to develop Bus Operations Safety Risk Reduction Programs in partnership with their transit workforce, and with oversight from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). Specifically:
It also gives transit agencies two years to develop Rail Operations Worker Assault Risk Reduction Programs.
The Transit Worker and Pedestrian Protection Act would also require transit agencies to report all assaults on transit workers to the USDOT’s National Transit Database (NTD).
Funding provided through the Transit Worker and Pedestrian Protection Act could be used to advance those and other efforts developed partnership with NJ TRANSIT and its employees.
The legislation is supported by the ATU, Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART), AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, and Teamsters.
