IDENTIFICATION OF THE FIRE THREAT IN URBAN TRANSIT VEHICLES

To improve mass transportation, UMTA tasked the Transportation Systems Center (TSC) to assess the overall fire threat in transit systems and to identify and recommend suitable remedial actions. This report presents the identification of the fire threat in urban transit vehicles. The study is based on site visits/surveys to nine representative U.S. transit properties, namely: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA); Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART); New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA); San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI); Southern California Rapid Transit District (RTD-Los Angeles); Denver Rapid Transit District (RTD-Denver); Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA); Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA); and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The data collected from the nine transit properties represented all bus and rail rapid transit fire and smoke incidents which occurred at those transit properties during the calendar year 1978. Data was obtained from daily logs, operator reports, accident reports, police reports, and maintenance reports. These data are supplemented by fault tree diagrams and scenarios in identification of the fire threat. These are based on actual transportation fire and smoke incidents in TSC files, data analysis, interviews with transit personnel, and the use of maintenance manuals. Following a description of the TSC data acquisition methodology, the data are analyzed and discussed along with the relationship of the fault trees and scenarios to the identification of countermeasures.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Systems Center

  55 Broadway, Kendall Square
  Cambridge, MA  United States  02142

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Hathaway, W T
  • FLORES, A L
• Publication Date: 1980-6

Media Info

• Pagination: 109 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Buses; Data collection; Disasters and emergency operations; Fault tree analysis; Fire detection systems; Fire fighting; Fire prevention; Fires; Loss and damage; Losses; Passengers; Rapid transit; Rapid transit cars; Risk analysis; Safety; Smoke; Transportation safety; Urban transportation
• Identifier Terms: Chicago Transit Authority; Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority; New York City Transit Authority; San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
• Uncontrolled Terms: Emergency procedures; Fire damage; Passenger safety
• Old TRIS Terms: Fire losses; Rapid transit railways
• Subject Areas: Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00326035
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: DOT-TSC-UMTA-80-8 Final Rpt., UMTA-MA-06-0051-80-1
• Contract Numbers: DOT-MA-06-0051
• Files: NTIS, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Nov 19 1981 12:00AM