February 4, 2025
Ned Freeman
Chief Executive Officer
UZURV
A case for preserving safety in Public Transit with FTA drug and alcohol testing
I’ve been monitoring the flurry of talking points and comments related to the FTA’s recent notice of proposed policy statement (Docket No. FTA–2024–0020: Notice of Proposed Policy Statement on the applicability of drug and alcohol testing programs to Transportation Network Companies).
In my opinion, there are two key points that are not getting enough attention in these discussions:
- FTA Drug and Alcohol testing makes public transit safer.
- FTA Drug and Alcohol testing should protect all riders, not just some riders.
1. FTA Drug and Alcohol testing requirements make public transit safer.
Federal transit law requires agencies to establish and implement drug and alcohol testing programs to help prevent accidents, injuries, and fatalities. The goal is safety.
The drug & alcohol testing requirements protect communities from workers who misuse alcohol or use prohibited drugs while on the job.
Testing requirements cover all workers who perform safety-sensitive functions, including operators of public transit vehicles. People who operate vehicles for public transit should not be impaired.
Testing seeks to deter, prevent, detect, and remove workers from service if they are found to be impaired by illegal drugs or abuse of alcohol. This includes testing workers before hire, random testing while on the job, testing based on reasonable suspicion of impairment, and post-accident testing.
Each year, federal data shows that the testing successfully identifies, prevents the hiring of, or removes from service around 1-2% of workers, who tested positive for drugs or alcohol. The rate of positive test results is monitored each year, and the amount of testing required is adjusted to make sure the workforce is adequately tested and monitored to improve the safety of our systems.
Drug and alcohol testing safety measures work to protect public transit riders.
2. FTA Drug and Alcohol testing should protect all riders, not just some riders.
Every single rider should have confidence that public transit is doing everything it can to keep them safe.
Agencies provide many modes and types of public transit service, from light rail, ferries, traditional fixed route bus service, ADA Paratransit, to on-demand services, first / last mile, microtransit, etc… many longstanding modes of service, as well as innovative new service models.
Every mode of service in public transit is subject to FTA drug and alcohol testing.
However, right now there is an active push by some to “exempt” TNCs from FTA Drug and Alcohol testing, unlike every other mode of service.
Some TNCs are pressing the industry to interpret the 1994 “taxicab exception” that originally applied to street-hailed cabs as the basis for exempting TNCs from the drug and alcohol testing standards that apply to every other operator and safety-sensitive worker in public transit.
Today, the limited “taxicab exception” has even evolved to be widely described by some as an “exemption” that should be broadly applied to transportation network companies.
Over the past several years, the industry has seen a proliferation and growth of programs where transportation network companies provide a material portion of service in public transit – many without being included as part of FTA Drug and Alcohol testing pools.
This has created systems where not all riders have the same safety protections as those required on every other mode of service.
This proliferation is not the result of the random selection of an individual TNC driver by a rider using an agency voucher. Most of this growth comes from structured programs with a direct relationship between the agency and the TNCs managed by procurements and contractual or other formal relationships.
To address many industry requests for clarification about the taxicab exception and how it should be applied to TNCs, the FTA recently released a Proposed Policy Statement regarding the applicability of FTA’s Drug and Alcohol testing program to Transportation Network Companies.
In the proposal, the FTA states there is a need to clarify how the “taxicab exception” applies to TNCs, and whether or not TNCs are subject to the requirements of FTA Drug and Alcohol testing.
Let’s be clear:
Public transit and public transit riders should have full access to the use of TNCs. But the use of TNCs as a solution in public transit should not exempt TNCs from the same safety requirements of every other mode of service in public transit.
There is no reason TNCs cannot comply with FTA drug and alcohol testing requirements. To the contrary, a number of TNCs manage FTA compliant testing programs. And do so at scale.
The FTA’s proposed policy statement, which clarifies the rules for operating under contractual or informal arrangements with transit agencies to comply with FTA’s drug and alcohol testing program with TNCs, represents a crucial clarification of the original rules to ensure passengers receive consistent levels of safety across all public transportation services.
The assurance that every driver for federally funded public transportation adheres to the same standard as the operators for every other mode of service provides peace of mind to riders, transit agencies, and communities.
The FTA’s proposed policy statement regrounds our industry understanding of the taxicab exception to the original intent. It aligns with public expectations that providers of transit-funded services uphold the highest safety standards, ensuring no compromise in protecting passengers regardless of service delivery methods.
The choice to allow TNCs to expand services in federally funded public transportation without drug and alcohol testing is not a market necessity. It is a choice.
We believe drug and alcohol testing should be applied to all modes of service. And again, it is absolutely possible to operate a FTA compliant drug and alcohol testing program as a large-scale TNC.
If we uphold our industry safety standards, we still leave the private sector their freedom of choice.
TNCs can choose to comply with the same safety standards required of every other business in public transit. Or they can choose not to.
The industry should not seek to make public transit riders choose between different modes with different safety standards. We can enforce our safety standards and provide full access to the significant benefits of TNCs for public transportation.
Summary Conclusion:
FTA drug and alcohol testing makes public transit systems safer than they would be without the testing requirements.
Safety standards should be applied to all modes of service, and there is no reason to single out TNCs for exemption from drug and alcohol testing.
Support for the FTA’s proposed policy statement aligns with the long-standing emphasis on safety in public transit. We urge the industry’s full support for the proposed policy statement “Notice of Proposed Policy Statement Regarding the Applicability of FTA’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Program to Transportation Network Companies.”
Should you wish to voice support for the FTA’s Proposed Policy Statement (Docket No. FTA–2024–0020) you can post your public comment to the FTA here: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FTA-2024-0020-0001
Comments are due by February 12, 2025