Mass Transit Division Protects 15 Million Riders Daily
News & Happenings
May 29, 2007
TSA's Mass Transit Division is tasked, as one of its functions, with the providing guidance to transit agencies on employee training, including the one who took the first steps that led to the determination that the objects in Boston were, in fact, part of an elaborate hoax.
The division works to secure nearly 6,000 transit systems used by 15 million riders a day nationwide. By comparison, the nation's airlines carry about 2 million passengers per day. The systems include everything from small-town bus service to massive transit systems that include integrated bus and rail service.
The division became part of the Office of Transportation Sector Network Management in fall of 2005. Paul Lennon arrived at TSA a year later to lead the division after serving 42 years in transit operations, security, intelligence and law enforcement within the transit industry. Starting as a rail and bus operator in Boston, Lennon now leads a team of 13 employees with backgrounds in law, law enforcement, mass transit and the Coast Guard. He is currently expanding the division to 19 staff members.
"Prior to 9/11, security for mass transit had been largely viewed by the federal government as the responsibility of local law enforcement agencies," said Lennon. "The attacks of 9/11 and the existence of terrorist organizations that would deliberately target public transit systems to maximize casualties among innocent civilian populations have changed that viewpoint significantly."
Six transit security fundamentals, delivered from risk and intelligence sources, drive the division’s security and risk philosophy. These are:
- training front-line transit employees in security awareness;
- maintaining visible, unpredictable measures;
- empowering riders to become the "eyes and ears" of mass transit through public awareness campaigns;
- addressing specific vulnerabilities of transit systems, including systems that travel through underwater structures (two fundamentals); and
- conducting table-top exercises (e.g., thinking exercises that address threats, vulnerabilities and consequences) and on-the-ground simulations.
Powered by these six core fundamentals, the Mass Transit Division works with other DHS components to effectively manage the federal Transit Security Grants Program. It funds a range of preparedness activities, including strengthening infrastructure against potential threats. The program will fund more than $171 million in grants in fiscal 2007.
