The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) has been awarded the Gold Award for Bus Safety from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

RTA, which is among the nation’s largest transit systems, will be presented with the honor for its achievements in safety, security, and operations in May at the APTA Bus and Paratransit Conference in Tampa, Fla.

“We’re consistently seeing improvements in safety, and every month we’re meeting and exceeding team goals, including the reduction of on-the-job injuries and preventable collisions,” said RTA CEO/GM Joe Calabrese. “It’s a very positive trend, and our customers are well-served when we achieve such outstanding safety standards,” Calabrese said.

RTA received the Gold Award in part for its adoption of Safety Management Systems (SMS) principles, said RTA’s Director of Safety Richard Czeck.

“SMS relies on data to understand emerging risk. It’s our agency-wide approach to managing safety. From the CEO on down, we’re committed to using data in a proactive manner,” he said.

RTA is one of the first transit systems in the country to adopt SMS, Czeck said. He works with various departments, including operations, planning, and training, to gather critical data to identify emerging risks.

“It’s scalable, and often times it can be done with little cost, but it yields big results,” he said. “Communication between departments, as well as external stakeholders, provides the necessary data,” he said.

RTA reduced the number of claims and events by approximately 49% since 2014.

In 2017, RTA was awarded the APTA Certificate of Merit for Safety for its bus and rail operations and service.