When our customers get on our buses and streetcars, they are entrusting the RTA with their personal safety. Here at the RTA, we take that responsibility seriously. Safely transporting our riders to where they want to go is the most important thing we do.

RTA headquarters contain a state-of-the-art operations control center. Through this center, RTA personnel are in touch with every vehicle on the street at all times. First, a radio communication system connects dispatchers at the center to bus drivers and streetcar conductors out in the city. In addition, each standard bus and streetcar is equipped with a camera system that sends direct feeds to the center. Simply put, our control-center staff monitor the movements of each vehicle in the city and all the activity on it.

All RTA bus and streetcar operators undergo rigorous safety training before they are allowed in the driver’s seat. Safety and customer service training remains ongoing throughout their careers at the RTA.

Safety on Buses and Streetcars

Help the RTA make your ride a safe one.

• If you need a moment to get to an open seat, feel free to ask the operator not to move the vehicle until you are able to sit down.
• Hold on to poles or straps if no seats are available.
• If standing, try to stay behind the line on the floor near the fare box.
• On rainy days passengers track in water, so be particularly careful when moving about on buses and streetcars.
• Watch your step when boarding and exiting vehicles.
• When exiting at a rear door, pay attention to closing doors, and be aware of the high steps.

Courtesy on Buses and Streetcars

An important part of safety is being courteous to others sharing the ride with you.

• Don’t talk to or distract the operator when a vehicle is in motion.
• No eating, drinking, or smoking is allowed on vehicles.
• Have your fare counted out and in hand when entering the vehicle in order to help everyone board quickly and safely.
• Enter at the front of the vehicle. Exit by the rear doors.
• The seats behind the driver are designated for disabled passengers, senior citizens, and pregnant women.
• When disabled passengers are boarding the vehicle with the lift mechanism, please give plenty of space to them and to the driver assisting them.
• Young children should be removed from strollers and placed on a seat or carried on an adult’s lap. Strollers need to be folded up and put securely out of the way of other passengers.
• No amplified music is allowed. If you are listening to music with headphones, the music should be quiet enough that other passengers can’t hear it.
• If the bus or streetcar is crowded, please remove packages from the seat next to you so that others may sit down.

Security on Buses and Streetcars

You’ll be safest on the RTA when you’re aware of what’s going on around you. So don’t fall asleep on the vehicles, don’t play your personal music too loud, and don’t become too distracted in a book or handheld device.

If you see something dangerous or even suspicious on the RTA system, please tell the vehicle operator or call 911. Keep an eye out for unattended bags at RTA stops or on RTA vehicles and for people acting oddly or suspiciously. 

If someone is acting intoxicated or in an unsafe manner, discreetly tell the operator and return to your seat. The vehicle driver is trained about what to do in such situations. He or she may call an RTA dispatcher, the police, or an ambulance on a case-by-case basis.

Streetcar Road Safety

Streetcars are basically a type of train. Like trains (and unlike buses), streetcars cannot stop suddenly. Rather, they take a few moments to decrease their speed and come to a complete stop.

Do not cross directly in front of an approaching streetcar. Car drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians sometimes try to cut in front of moving streetcars because they falsely believe that the streetcar will be able to stop quickly for them. As a result, accidents happen.

Visit the Operation Lifesaver site here for more information on rail safety.