(The following report by Fred Bayles appeared on the USA Today website on April 6.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Passengers saw something strange moments before a series of explosions killed 191 people on the Madrid rail system last month. But no one said anything until it was too late.
Several unattended backpacks were noticed on the train, investigators were told later, and that should have raised suspicions.
As Congress and the Bush administration consider spending huge sums to deter terrorism and improve safety for 32 million Americans who use public transit every day, the lesson learned from Spain is a simple one.
“You have to engage the public to be your eyes and ears, and you have to facilitate their ability to report,” says Brian Jenkins, director of transportation security at San Jose State University’s Mineta Transportation Institute. “None of these measures were taken in Madrid.”
Last week, the FBI warned of possible terrorist plots involving trains and buses. Congress is considering bills that would add $515 million to fund transit security.
The proposals include money to upgrade Amtrak rail tunnels in New York City, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and funding for a pilot program to test baggage and screen passengers at the 10 busiest Amtrak stations.
It takes more than money
Public transportation officials say the increased spending isn’t likely to mean increased security.
Train stations can’t be monitored as thoroughly as airports because there are multiple entrances and exits. That makes it nearly impossible to watch scores of people heading into the big-city subways and commuter rail lines.
“There is no way to assure security through a passenger-by-passenger technology like we see at airports,” says William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). “It has to be a group effort.”
An APTA survey found that leaders of the nation’s transit systems said they need about $6 billion in security improvements. Transit managers said they need money for more security cameras, police and employee training and education programs to emphasize heightened awareness among passengers.
Since Sept. 11, security concerns for ground transit systems have been eclipsed by the focus on airline security. Congress appropriated $155 million for ground transit security, while $11 billion has gone to aviation.
More than 9 billion trips are taken each year on public transit systems: subways, buses and commuter rails. That’s about 16 times more trips than are taken by air.
Crowded trains are inviting targets for terrorists. Busy transit stations allow for easy access, anonymity and quick escape. And train cars can contain and enhance the killing power of explosives.
“If you’re determined to kill in quantity and indiscriminately, public surface transpiration is attractive,” Jenkins says. “You can produce great disruption and great alarm, the two traditional goals of terrorism.”
A study by the Mineta Institute, a government-funded research group that studies all aspects of transportation policy, analyzed 1,000 terrorist attacks on transit systems around the world over the past 80 years.
The study found 37% of the attacks caused fatalities compared with a 25% fatality rate among all other terrorist actions. Among the fatal transportation attacks, 25% caused 10 or more deaths.
Such incidents have increased in recent years. Israeli buses are frequent targets of suicide bombers. Other deadly assaults were carried out on the Paris Metro, British rail and Moscow subway.
Imposing the same security at a train station as at an airport would be counterproductive, experts say. Airline passengers have time to go through security checkpoints at airports. There is no possibility for individual screening of millions of workers rushing to catch trains or subways throughout the day.
“It would take the rapid out of rapid transit,” says Gary Gee, the chief of police for San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit system.
‘A ways to go’
APTA’s Millar talks of research on bomb-detecting devices that could be placed in turnstiles or at the thresholds of train and subway cars.
“There are all kinds of things we believe would be helpful, but we have a ways to go in developing them,” he says.
Most point to the British security model developed to counter the 25-year terrorist campaign by the Irish Republican Army.
The London Underground has 3,000 cameras, a figure that dwarfs even New York City’s subway system. The British also installed strategically located phone boxes for passengers to call in warnings.
Continued public information campaigns taught Londoners to be wary of any stray packages and luggage. Special police units were created to respond instantly to reported threats.
As a result, many attempted bombings were either foiled or anticipated quickly enough to get passengers out of harm’s way.
Increased public awareness can have another benefit: dissuading terrorists from attempting an attack.
William Poole, a transportation security adviser to three presidents, notes that most attacks are preceded by scouting expeditions in which terrorists may leave a package and step away to gauge the reaction.
“If they drop a parcel and there is no response, that’s a green light to go ahead,” Poole said. “If they get a tap on their shoulder from security personnel, they probably won’t be back.”