MTA promotes railway crossing safety

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Operation Lifesaver, Inc., recently partnered to promote rail cross safety at LIRR railroad and Metro-North rail crossings.

The partners’ first action was to launch an advertising campaign on television, at the movies, online, in newspapers, and on outdoor signs. They MTA also began a safety-focused section located on its website at web.mta.info/safety as well as a social media hashtag: %MTASafety.

“The best way to prevent needless tragedies at railroad crossings is to observe the so-called Three E’s of crossing safety: education, engineering and enforcement,” Prendergast said. “The MTA Police and local jurisdictions throughout our region have done tremendous work stepping up enforcement, and our railroads are in continuous discussions with DOTs and our partner communities to improve engineering. Today, we enter a new phase of our successful partnership built around education. By joining forces in this way, the MTA will have direct access to Operation Lifesaver’s best-in-class educational programs and materials.”

“We are committed to reducing collisions, deaths and injuries at grade crossings and near railroad tracks, and look forward to working closely with MTA in these efforts,” Joyce Rose, Operation Lifesaver President and CEO, said. “Our new partnership with MTA is a great opportunity for both organizations to build on past safety efforts and create initiatives that will reverse the recent increase in rail crossing collisions and deaths. Together, we can help empower the people of New York to keep themselves safe.”