(The following article by Joe Malinconico was posted on the Star-Ledger website on April 7.)
NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey’s $102 million transportation security plan provides for surveillance cameras on bridges, increased police patrols on trains and extra bomb-sniffing dogs, officials said during a legislative budget hearing yesterday.
Homeland security measures, many of which are already in place, became a focal point of the hearing when several members of the Assembly Budget Committee expressed concerns about last month’s terrorist bombings of commuter trains in Madrid and asked what was being done to prevent such attacks here.
Transportation officials said they have been on heightened alert since the Madrid bombings, which killed nearly 200 people.
“Most of our ability to respond to an incident like Madrid flows from systems beefed up … on the heels of 9/11,” Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere said. “Before that, we had nothing in place virtually. It was a learning experience from day one.”
Since then, Lettiere said, the state has done everything possible to keep its highways and mass transit systems safe.
Yesterday morning, for example, two NJ Transit police officers spent three hours in a State Police helicopter conducting overhead surveillance of train tracks, bridges and tunnels, agency Police Chief Joseph Bober said.
Officials cautioned legislators not to expect draconian measures, such as putting every rail passenger through bomb detectors. If that were to happen, mass transit would no longer be a practical mode of transportation for commuters, they said.
“It’s fundamentally an open system here in New Jersey,” NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington said. “It has to be an open system to assist people to move about easily.”
During yesterday’s budget hearing in Trenton, Lettiere outlined his department’s $2.58 billion capital program, which includes $370 million to repair and replace 71 bridges, $150 million for roadway preservation and $235 million for congestion relief programs.
Legislators also questioned Lettiere and other officials about two changes in fees that are being proposed.
One would require people who buy new cars to pay for four years of auto registration fees up front, a move that would provide an extra $90 million for the state budget this year. The second measure would increase the tax on new tires by $1.50, raising the levy to $4 per new tire.
Homeland security, however, was the topic that came up most often during yesterday’s hearing.
The $102 million security plan, which also covers motor vehicle services, includes some measures that began two years ago and others that are still in the works, Lettiere said. The state also has pending a request for another $41.6 million from the federal government for additional security improvements.
Among the highlights of the security plan:
— Increasing the NJ Transit police force from 144 officers to 212.
— Installing surveillance cameras on the state’s 12 draw- and swing-bridges as well as on the 10 major bridges in the state. Cameras also are being installed at many rail stations.
— Constructing fences and barriers around bridges and tunnels.
— Increasing inspections at port facilities.
— Creating New Jersey’s digital driver’s licenses, which are designed to make it harder for people to make counterfeit identification.
— Purchasing protective suits for police to wear in case of biological and chemical attacks.
— Purchasing radiation detectors.