MTA adopts 2025 safety plan after report showing improved vehicle reliability

The Nashville MTA board voted to adopt the agency’s 2025 safety plan update after a staff presentation that reviewed recent safety performance and proposed 2026 targets.

Nick Pachenko, the agency’s director of operations, told the board that staff analyzed four years of historical data and compared projections with actuals reported to the National Transit Database. For fixed-route buses the agency projected 34 safety events with no more than 38 injuries; actual results were 35 safety events and 41 injuries. On the cutaway side the agency projected 10 safety events and 10 injuries and recorded 9 events and 9 injuries. System reliability — measured in miles between major mechanical failures — exceeded projections: buses achieved about 9,164 miles between failures versus a 6,800-mile projection, and cutaway vehicles achieved roughly 47,920 miles versus a 20,000-mile projection.

Pachenko credited targeted operator training, enhanced wheelchair securement training and focused maintenance activity for reliability gains and recommended board adoption of the safety performance targets for FY 2026 (for example: bus targets of 35 safety events with no more than 41 injuries and continued reliability targets). The safety committee that developed the targets includes representation from management and ATU Local 1235; the board praised that partnership during discussion.

The board approved MDash-26-010 (the agency safety plan update) by voice vote with no roll-call tally recorded. Staff requested the board authorize the chief executive officer to execute the plan in compliance with Federal Transit Administration requirements and will continue regular monitoring and reporting as required by the FTA.