Building a safety management platform for rail transit oversight

Overview

We built the new rail safety management platform for a state rail transit safety department to replace fragmented legacy tools and spreadsheet-based processes. This centralized platform enables state safety employees to manage rail safety events, corrective action plans, and regulatory workflows, as well as efficiently oversee rail safety operations while supporting critical Federal Transit Administration (FTA) compliance requirements.

Business impact

A purpose-built safety management platform replaced disconnected processes with a single source of truth for tracking safety events, corrective actions, investigations, and regulatory documentation. Delivered under an aggressive timeline, this platform improved operational visibility, introduced structured approval workflows, and provided the foundation for continued expansion of safety operations.

• Application launched to production 4 months after kickoff
• Centralized safety operations platform replacing legacy systems and spreadsheets
• Supported successful fulfillment of FTA safety mandates

Problem

The agency needed a modern platform to oversee rail safety activities and comply with FTA requirements following the FTA's Safety Management Inspection of a major transit system. Existing workflows relied on a combination of legacy software, spreadsheets, email communication, and manual document management, creating challenges around visibility, collaboration, and maintaining accurate records.

The agency needed a scalable system that could support complex safety workflows, including Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), safety event investigations, document approvals, and detailed audit histories. The platform also needed to accommodate multiple user roles, strict permissions, and regulatory requirements while replacing fragmented processes with a centralized operational system.

Solution

We designed and developed a centralized safety management platform that replaced fragmented tools with structured digital workflows for rail safety oversight.

The application introduced lifecycle management for Corrective Action Plans and Safety Events, including approval workflows, document management, audit histories, and collaborative investigation reviews. A custom side-by-side review experience improved how staff members evaluated complex safety reports, while additional capabilities such as bulk uploads, Microsoft Entra single sign-on, API integrations, and reporting tools created a scalable foundation for future operations.

Result

The application launched in October 2024 following an accelerated development timeline, giving staff members a modern platform to manage safety operations and regulatory compliance.

By replacing spreadsheets, legacy software, and manual coordination with a single source of truth, this application improved visibility, accountability, and efficiency across safety workflows. The platform contributed to the agency's successful fulfillment of FTA requirements, supporting the first-ever closure of an FTA Special Directive issued to this agency while providing a foundation for continued safety management improvements.