The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced the winners of the annual Rail Safety & Security Excellence Awards, which recognizes rail systems in North America for their excellence in safety and security programs and operations, at its 2016 Rail Conference in Phoenix.

"Congratulations to all the winners, but more to the point, congratulations to all these participants who thought outside the box and tried something new," said APTA Chair Valarie J. McCall. "When an organization successfully branches out and incorporates new ideas, it serves as a model for others to make our industry even safer."

Category: Gold Awards

GOLD Award for Heavy Rail Security – Baltimore’s Maryland Transit Administration won the GOLD Award for its ZEUS Program, which stands for "Zone Enforced Unified Sweeps.” The program has seen a 49% reduction in Part One major crime on the subway.

GOLD Award for Commuter Rail Safety – MTA Metro-North Railroad implemented a new procedure for protecting track workers. Under this innovative system only the foreman in the field can release the track for trains with a unique code that the train dispatcher does not have.

GOLD Award for Light Rail Safety – Md. MTA also won for the Maryland Light Rail Railroad Worker Protection (RWP) Program. Since the implementation of the RWP there have been no employee injuries or fatalities from on-track safety.

 Category: Certificate of Merit

Certificate of Merit for Light Rail Safety – San Diego Metropolitan Transit System for its "Building on a Foundation of Safety" initiative.

Certificate of Merit for Light Rail Safety – Utah Transit Authority for the "TRAX Light Rail Pedestrian Treatments and Enhancements."