How Security and Safety Regulatory Concerns Impact Public Transportation Industry

In my last blog, I discussed the changing mass transit landscape and the shift to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies to meet the industry’s changing demands. In addition to price sensitivities and system complexities facing manufacturers, changes in security regulations, unknown safety and security threats, and an increasing amount of electronic systems with the potential for exposure to safety and security breaches, are causing regulatory bodies and insurance companies to demand that operators have the latest safety systems installed to protect against large scale accidents — and this significantly impacts development.

Safety is paramount in any mass transportation system, from local trams to high-speed cross country trains. The standards governing safety systems have been evolving over time, and we're starting to learn from markets, such as aerospace, about the appropriate architectural concepts and model-based designs required to achieve effective certification standards.

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