Jan. 3 – SMART Transportation Division submitted comments protesting in-cab distractions to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The FRA recently issued a public notice in docket FRA 2016-0002-N-22, allowing for comments to be made on in-cab distractions.
“We have been concerned about the increase of in-cab distractions for some time and have submitted letters and comments to the FRA with our concerns. Two examples are Trip Optimizer and Leader, which are computer-generated devices located in locomotive cabs that are allegedly being used to save fuel,” SMART TD’s National Legislative Director John Risch said in the comments.
“In addition, PTC implementation is causing greater cab distractions than we had hoped it would. Instead of the PTC system simply stopping trains when necessary, they are constantly messaging the engineer to take some minor corrective action and requiring the engineer to interact immediately, which takes the crews’ focus off the track ahead and on the cab electronic device.”
Click here to read the full comments made by SMART TD to the FRA.
Related News
- 2025 Timebooks Are On the Way
- National Apprenticeship Week spotlight: Dee Lee
- SMART-TD Announces 2025 Regional Training Seminars
- National Apprenticeship Week spotlight: Brandi Hartung
- Strike Avoided: SMART-TD Local 1594 Reaches Tentative Agreement with SEPTA. A Victory for Transit Workers’ Safety and Dignity
- National Apprenticeship Week spotlight: Zenobia Clark
- Virginia and D.C. legislative boards merge
- National Apprenticeship Week spotlight: Areesa Willie
- Help find the LA shooter responsible for attempted murder of SMART-TD transit member
- National Apprenticeship Week spotlight: Lily May Gibson