Stephen Leahy

BROOKLIN, Canada, Jul 20 2005 (IPS) — Despite London’s recent terrorist bombings, security for U.S. public transit systems remains woefully under-funded.

U.S. public transit systems that are used by 32 million people every day are vulnerable to terrorist attacks, but the George W. Bush administration does not seem to understand the risk, says Greg Hull, a security expert for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has given airports and airlines 18.1 billion dollars to beef up security for their two million daily passengers, while public transit has been granted just 250 million dollars. Only half of that has actually been handed out, Hull told IPS.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said last week that he did not think additional investment in public transit was needed despite the London bombings. In the new 31.8-billion-dollar Homeland Security spending measure, transit security funding was cut from 150 million dollars to 100 million dollars.

"Compared with airline passengers, public transit users are treated as second-class citizens when it comes to Homeland Security funding," Hull said.

Public transit is a popular target for terrorists, accounting for up to 40 percent of all attacks in the past 25 years, he adds.

In 1995, sarin gas was released on several lines of the Tokyo subway, killing 12 people and injuring 6,000 others. Last year, Moscow had two subway bombings several months apart that left 51 people dead. Madrid’s Mar. 11, 2004 bomb blasts that killed 191 people and wounded 1,460 targeted the city’s commuter train system.

And London’s Jul. 7 attack on three subway trains and one double-decker bus killed at least 56 people and injured more than 700 others.

U.S. mass transit has been on high alert since Jul. 7 even though there is no intelligence suggesting a direct threat, says Hull. High alert – or Code Orange, as Homeland Security terms it – is the second highest terrorist risk rating and compels transit agencies to take a number of measures to heighten security – often at their own cost.

"It a significant strain on budgets and personnel," he said, as Code Orange entered its 13th day. "Transit agencies can’t continue to pay for this."

"We’ve been on high alert ever since the London bombings," confirmed Linton Johnson, a spokesman for San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system.

Extra security staff, managers riding trains in yellow vests, and closing off areas to the public, including washrooms, are just some of the beefed up security efforts required by Code Orange.

"We’ve spent 20 million dollars on extra security measures since 9/11 but have only been reimbursed for six million dollars," Johnson told IPS. And not surprisingly, BART’s fare for its 310,000 daily passengers has risen.

Since 9/11, Homeland Security has doled out 7.50 dollars per airline passenger for security, and just 1.5 cents for every rider of public transit, he says.

"What Michael Chertoff said about public transit not needing any more money for security is a complete outrage," Johnson said.

He also strongly disputes Chertoff’s contention that public transit is low-risk since a plane holds 300 people while a bus only holds 30 people.

"One BART train holds twice as many people as a 747 airplane," he noted. "Unfortunately it will take a terrorist attack on public transit to get the Bush administration to wake up to the threat."

What happened in London could happen here, says Lisa Farbstein, a spokesperson for the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

"We’ve asked Homeland Security for 143 million dollars to make the necessary security improvements," Farbstein said in an interview.

So far, no money has been received.

Security in the London Underground is considered among the best in the world, having been the target of previous terrorist attacks by the Irish Republican Army, says APTA’s Hull.

"U.S. transit agencies would love to have the money to install the kind of surveillance cameras that the London Underground has but they just don’t have the money," says Hull.

Most do not even have enough cash to keep their two-way radios working, he said.

Despite these very real security concerns, and the recent terrorist attacks, public transit remains the safest way to travel, stresses Todd Litman, director of Canada’s Victoria Transport Policy Institute, an independent transportation research organisation.

"Total fatality rates per passenger-mile for transit is approximately one-tenth that of automobile travel," Litman told IPS.

It is important for people not to overact to terrorist threats to public transit and switch to driving their cars, he said. That happened in the months following Sep. 11 when U.S. citizens stopped flying and jumped into their cars instead. Studies showed there were several hundred additional traffic fatalities in the three months after the attacks.

Other studies show that communities with good transit systems have lower automobile, transit and pedestrian fatalities. "As transit use goes up, fatalities go down," said Litman.

Public transit provides other health benefits by reducing air pollution and increasing physical exercise. Shifting from using the subway to driving increases the risk of being killed by at least 10 times.

But there are no guarantees transit will remain the safest form of travel. It is up to public officials to keep public transit safe and take action to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks, he said.

London could not function if a lot of people switched to driving, and the same is true for most cities.

"Transit provides so many benefits that it would be foolish to allow terrorist risks to reduce its use and our willingness to support it," Litman said.