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N.J. hopes to thwart transit terrorists
As the safety of U.S. public transportation comes into sharper focus following the deadly Indian commuter-train bombings, experts say it'll be difficult — but not impossible — to thwart terrorist attacks on buses, subways and commuter trains, according to the Gannett News Service.
People take 32 million trips daily on mass transit, compared with 2 million in airplanes, according to William Millar, head of the American Public Transportation Association. And since Sept. 11, 2001, airline security has become so tight that terrorists may be looking for other targets.
Asking passengers at, say, a busy subway stop to remove their shoes and go through metal detectors as they do in airports is impractical and would rob systems of speed and efficiency, experts say.
But that also makes mass transit more vulnerable, as illustrated by the Tuesday bombings in Bombay, India, last year's bombings in the London subway, and the 2004 commuter-rail blasts in Madrid.
"You have to be realistic about it. A public place is a public place," said Brian Jenkins, a transit-security expert at San Jose State University's Mineta Transportation Institute. "If (terrorists are) determined to carry out large-scale violence, then unfortunately public surface transportation offers an attractive venue."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said there's no "specific or credible" intelligence to suggest a threat to U.S. transit systems after the bombings that claimed 200 lives in Bombay.
New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri, who grew up in India and lived there for 15 years, said he knows firsthand how that country has one of the most complex railway systems in the world and how it has similarities with New Jersey's rail system.
"The attack (on India's railways) Tuesday sheds important light on rail security in the U.S.," he said.
Kolluri supports proposals by Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who are lobbying for more federal money to fund transit security.
"The federal government spends $2,200 per airline passenger for security, compared to $2.24 per passenger for rail security," said Kolluri who also is chairman of NJ Transit's board of trustees.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, authorities have increased armed and K-9 patrols, installed security cameras and sometimes conduct random passenger searches, all with an eye on boosting transit security without shutting down the systems, said Josh Filler, a former Homeland Security Department official who works for HNTB Corp., a consulting firm based in Kansas City, Mo.
Millar said enlisting the public's help in spotting suspicious people or activities also is helpful, though the biggest weapon in the authorities' arsenal is intelligence.
This month, U.S. and Lebanese authorities said they foiled a potential attack on a PATH rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey because they got word of the preliminary terrorist plans.
On Tuesday, the Homeland Security Department and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began testing explosive-detection technology in Jersey City at a PATH train station used by 15,000 people a day.
Since 2001, the Bush administration has spent some $20 billion on keeping the skies safe, but only $400 million on transit safety, Millar said. Transit agencies have spent $2 billion for safety in that time, but they need $6 billion over several years, he said.
Congress is beginning to focus on transit security, with hearings on the subject scheduled in the House this month.
NJ Transit has spent $7.5 million to improve security and infrastructure, but more is needed, Kolluri said. Increased funding would allow NJ Transit to purchase screening equipment similar to the system being tested this week by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at the PATH rail system's Exchange Place station in Jersey City, he said.
It also would pay for increased expenses incurred when federal Homeland Security elevates the alert level.
"When we go to orange alert, the amount of people we have to deploy taxes the current budget," Kolluri said. "We need money when we go to high alert for people and the hardware to go with them."
Ross Capon, head of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said he's heard talk from Capitol Hill about spending more on transit security. He had doubted anything would be done, he said Thursday. "Probably what happened in India will change that."
(This item was distributed by the Gannett News Service July 14, 2006.)
July 14, 2006
As the safety of U.S. public transportation comes into sharper focus following the deadly Indian commuter-train bombings, experts say it'll be difficult — but not impossible — to thwart terrorist attacks on buses, subways and commuter trains, according to the Gannett News Service.
People take 32 million trips daily on mass transit, compared with 2 million in airplanes, according to William Millar, head of the American Public Transportation Association. And since Sept. 11, 2001, airline security has become so tight that terrorists may be looking for other targets.
Asking passengers at, say, a busy subway stop to remove their shoes and go through metal detectors as they do in airports is impractical and would rob systems of speed and efficiency, experts say.
But that also makes mass transit more vulnerable, as illustrated by the Tuesday bombings in Bombay, India, last year's bombings in the London subway, and the 2004 commuter-rail blasts in Madrid.
"You have to be realistic about it. A public place is a public place," said Brian Jenkins, a transit-security expert at San Jose State University's Mineta Transportation Institute. "If (terrorists are) determined to carry out large-scale violence, then unfortunately public surface transportation offers an attractive venue."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said there's no "specific or credible" intelligence to suggest a threat to U.S. transit systems after the bombings that claimed 200 lives in Bombay.
New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri, who grew up in India and lived there for 15 years, said he knows firsthand how that country has one of the most complex railway systems in the world and how it has similarities with New Jersey's rail system.
"The attack (on India's railways) Tuesday sheds important light on rail security in the U.S.," he said.
Kolluri supports proposals by Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who are lobbying for more federal money to fund transit security.
"The federal government spends $2,200 per airline passenger for security, compared to $2.24 per passenger for rail security," said Kolluri who also is chairman of NJ Transit's board of trustees.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, authorities have increased armed and K-9 patrols, installed security cameras and sometimes conduct random passenger searches, all with an eye on boosting transit security without shutting down the systems, said Josh Filler, a former Homeland Security Department official who works for HNTB Corp., a consulting firm based in Kansas City, Mo.
Millar said enlisting the public's help in spotting suspicious people or activities also is helpful, though the biggest weapon in the authorities' arsenal is intelligence.
This month, U.S. and Lebanese authorities said they foiled a potential attack on a PATH rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey because they got word of the preliminary terrorist plans.
On Tuesday, the Homeland Security Department and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began testing explosive-detection technology in Jersey City at a PATH train station used by 15,000 people a day.
Since 2001, the Bush administration has spent some $20 billion on keeping the skies safe, but only $400 million on transit safety, Millar said. Transit agencies have spent $2 billion for safety in that time, but they need $6 billion over several years, he said.
Congress is beginning to focus on transit security, with hearings on the subject scheduled in the House this month.
NJ Transit has spent $7.5 million to improve security and infrastructure, but more is needed, Kolluri said. Increased funding would allow NJ Transit to purchase screening equipment similar to the system being tested this week by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at the PATH rail system's Exchange Place station in Jersey City, he said.
It also would pay for increased expenses incurred when federal Homeland Security elevates the alert level.
"When we go to orange alert, the amount of people we have to deploy taxes the current budget," Kolluri said. "We need money when we go to high alert for people and the hardware to go with them."
Ross Capon, head of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said he's heard talk from Capitol Hill about spending more on transit security. He had doubted anything would be done, he said Thursday. "Probably what happened in India will change that."
(This item was distributed by the Gannett News Service July 14, 2006.)
July 14, 2006
