Terrorism and public transportation

More than five years ago, al Qaeda attacked and killed thousands of innocent Americans within our borders, using commercial airliners as weapons of mass destruction, putting the entire nation on notice that the oceans are no longer protection against murderous assaults on our citizens or our way of life.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, while terrorists have continued to plot additional attacks against airliners, thankfully without success, they have successfully struck subways, trains and buses in many cities across the globe, including London, Madrid, Mumbai, Moscow and Israel. It is probably only a matter of time before our own rail and transit systems are attacked — and we urgently need to secure them.

Fourteen million people use rail and mass transit every day in this country. Trains, subways and buses are the pulsing arteries and lifeblood of our major centers of commerce, art and learning. An attack on these systems could cause mass casualties and cause major damage to our economy.

In my home state of Connecticut, the Metro North New Haven line is one of the busiest rail lines in the United States, carrying about 110,000 riders each day. Nationwide, rail and transit systems carry seven times as many people in a year than air transport. And yet they receive a fraction of the funding.

With this many people in a densely populated, open environment, it is no wonder that al Qaeda would try to target mass transit. What is a wonder is how little we’ve done to protect ourselves against this risk.

That could begin to change when Congress gives final approval to S.4, the Improving America’s Security Act of 2007, which I expect by summer. With this legislation, Congress states plainly that it is time to get serious about securing public transportation.

The bill authorizes $3.5 billion in mass transit security grants for improvements to emergency response, emergency equipment, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear detection systems. An additional $1.1 billion is authorized for improvements in counter-terrorism training and expansion of rail and mass transit emergency preparedness.

S.4 is a great first step toward better transportation protection, and it reflects a long-overdue federal investment in transit security. But money alone is not enough.

Two years ago, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff set off a wave of anger in cities and towns nationwide when he said that state and local governments are basically on their own when it comes to protecting their mass transit systems. The secretary said that he was misunderstood, which I was relieved to hear, because the federal government must not abdicate its responsibility to protect mass transit from terrorist attacks. In fact, it must do much more.

The first thing it must do is exert greater leadership and encourage greater cooperation among federal authorities, such as the departments of Homeland Security and Transportation, to develop and deploy high-tech security measures that cities and states can’t afford to undertake all on their own. And these agencies must commit to working together over the long term to find ever more innovative solutions to our ever-present vulnerabilities.

The federal government must also do a better job of providing leadership and direction to local systems by providing or assisting with risk and vulnerability assessments, developing improved safety standards, and developing new technologies and new applications for existing technologies.

States and localities shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of the burden of a national security challenge. DHS must be more aggressive in setting standards for risk-assessment evaluation, training, and research and development, and the Transportation Security Administration must take the lead.

Mass transit is a way of life for many Americans, one we encourage, and yet our public transportation system remains one of our greatest security vulnerabilities. Protecting an inherently open rail and transit system poses significant challenges, but these challenges are surmountable if our nation’s best put their minds to it; and if we are creative, aggressive and vigilant in confronting enemies that move silently among us — probing for weakness and plotting disaster. We must not let them strike.

Lieberman is the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

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