R.P. Eddy
2007-03-09 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

In the peak of morning rush hour three years ago, terrorists murdered 192 people and wounded 1,500 by detonating ten bombs on Madrid commuter trains.

Madrid’s bombing is not unique —more than 40 percent of terrorist attacks worldwide have been against transit. Yet, to date, virtually nothing has been done to protect America’s trains, buses and ferries.

This inaction is largely due to the complexity of the task. Unlike an airport, train and bus systems cannot impose security checkpoints without compromising their fundamental character.

Still, the fact that absolute security may not be possible should not excuse doing nothing. Even small, imperfect measures can deter terrorists and keep them off guard.

So then, what can be done?

The federal government can start by making sure transit receives its fair share of homeland security funding. Since Sept. 11, the federal government has spent $24 billion on aviation security and only $386 million on transit security. If you do the math, that means airplane security has received 62times the funding that transit has received, yet far more people use transit on a daily basis. On the average weekday, some 14 million people use mass transit, compared to the 2 million passengers with pass through U.S. airports on the busiest of travel days.

While spending must be rebalanced to reflect this reality, Washington also needs to interject some common sense and creativity into how those homeland security dollars are spent.

DHS has tested several “high-tech” security measures in transit systems around the country during the last two years. They’ve all been found lacking. While we should not abandon research and development of new technologies, it is becoming increasingly clear that “low-tech” solutions — increased police presence, K-9 patrols, random passenger searches, better employee training, and increased public awareness — offer the best, albeit imperfect, protection for the foreseeable future.

To date, DHS has mostly provided grants to the states to buy equipment suc as fire trucks and hazmat suits. But, as the DHS itself admits, the best tools to prevent a transit attack — such as police inspection of passengers’ bags — require increased manpower, and manpower means dollars. More flexibility with the way homeland security dollars can be spent would allow law enforcement and transit agencies to dedicate a portion of DHS funding to personnel costs and training.

But, while offering increased flexibility, DHS simultaneously needs to insist on greater accountability to make sure these funds are spent effectively. By its nature, transit spans multiple jurisdictions, making it tricky to decide who should take charge of security. In many instances, a local transportation authority claims responsibility for it, but many of these agencies lack the expertise and resources to seriously tackle the problem. DHS needs to assign responsibility for public transport safety and ensure coordinated plans exist within each system.

DHS should also seek ways to enlist the nation’s 350,000 public transportation employees as security assets. Train conductors and bus drivers’ close interaction with passengers means they will probably be the first to notice suspicious activity. However, Warren George, the President of the Amalgamated Transit Union, testified before the Senate that few of his members know how to recognize security threats or respond to them. The best estimates show that less than one quarter of transit employees have received real counter-terrorism training. Educating all of them should be the goal. In Israel every transit employee receives detailed “behavioral observation” training and is drilled on what to do when an attack occurs.

One final, but critical, “human intelligence” security measure is public awareness. Several train passengers interviewed after the Madrid bombings remembered seeing the unattended knapsacks with the bombs, but they did not alert anyone. Programs such as the New York MTA’s “If you see something, say something” campaign — which encourages those using the system to be its “eyes and ears” — should be supported and expanded.

As the 9/11 Commission noted, while many resources have been devoted to airport security, “opportunities to do harm are as great, or greater, in maritime or surface transportation.” There are a number of homeland security appropriation bills currently circulating Capitol Hill. Congress should make sure transit receives its fair share of homeland security funding and that a significant portion of the money be spent on manpower and training, not fancy un-proven technologies. It is the boring basics that will make transit more secure.

R.P. Eddy directs the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Policing Terrorism. He formerly served as director of counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council and as a senior adviser for intelligence and counterterrorism to the secretary of energy.