Dealing with the Threat of Terrorism on Transit Systems

Eva Lerner-Lam, PresidentEva Lerner-Lam, President

Palisades Consulting Group, Inc.Palisades Consulting Group, Inc.

Presentation at the ICTPA Annual Meeting, Presentation at the ICTPA Annual Meeting, October 5, 2002October 5, 2002

The Threat is Real 1993: Terrorists were discovered with plans to

bomb New York tunnels and bridges 1995: A train was derailed in Arizona by

unknown terrorists, subways were bombed in Paris and nerve gas was discharged in the Tokyo subway

1997: Terrorists were discovered planning suicide bombings in the NYC subways

1998: an attempt was made to derail a high speed train in Japan and poison gas attack on the Moscow subway

The Threat is Real

1999: a Sydney train station was bombed 2000: bomb threats shut down the London

subway 2000: bombs injured patrons at the Dusseldorf

subway station and the Manila subways 2001: terrorist attack on the World Trade Center

on September 11 seriously affected transportation in New York City

Furthermore, Transit is a “Critical Infrastructure” It must work DURING and AFTER a It must work DURING and AFTER a

terrorist attackterrorist attack EvacuationEvacuation First RespondersFirst Responders Search and RescueSearch and Rescue RecoveryRecovery RebuildingRebuilding

Types of Threats

Armed Assault

Hostage Taking

Chemical Release On Board

Explosive on Board

Chemical Outside

Explosive/Sabotage Outside

Four Fronts

Counter- and Anti-TerrorismCounter- and Anti-Terrorism Infrastructure HardeningInfrastructure Hardening Business Recovery and ContinuityBusiness Recovery and Continuity Information TechnologyInformation Technology

Transit-Specific Responses Since 9/11

FTA “Connecting Communities” ProgramFTA “Connecting Communities” Program FTA/APTA Transit Security ForumsFTA/APTA Transit Security Forums FTA/NTI Security Training CoursesFTA/NTI Security Training Courses TRB Security Research InitiativesTRB Security Research Initiatives

Other Related Responses Since 9/11 for Transportation Engineers The Infrastructure Security Program (TISP)The Infrastructure Security Program (TISP) Infrastructure Security and the Built Infrastructure Security and the Built

Environment (ISBE)Environment (ISBE) ASCE Transportation Security CommitteeASCE Transportation Security Committee

Transit Agency Needs

EducationEducation AwarenessAwareness TrainingTraining DrillsDrills Due DiligenceDue Diligence

What Every Transportation Professional Should Do…

Be a “part of the solution”Be a “part of the solution” Learn about national, regional and local Learn about national, regional and local

programsprograms Participate in drills and exercisesParticipate in drills and exercises Frequently check your preparedness at Frequently check your preparedness at

work, home, commute and travelwork, home, commute and travel

References

TRB: TRB: www4.trb.org/trb/homepage.nsf/web/securitywww4.trb.org/trb/homepage.nsf/web/security APTA: APTA:

www.apta.com/info/briefings/briefing_4_special.htmlwww.apta.com/info/briefings/briefing_4_special.html AASHTO: AASHTO:

http://security.transportation.org/community/security/indexhttp://security.transportation.org/community/security/index.html.html

ASCE: ASCE: www.tisp.orgwww.tisp.org White House: White House: http://www.whitehouse.govhttp://www.whitehouse.gov FBI: FBI: www.fbi.govwww.fbi.gov FEMA: FEMA: www.fema.govwww.fema.gov Red Cross: Red Cross: www.redcross.orgwww.redcross.org