It’s easy to forget that national security goes beyond border control and TSA regulations. The concept of keeping our nation safe doesn’t always equal millions of dollars of federal funding being poured into large-scale programs. When you get on the train every day and begin your commute to work, you become part of the national security conversation. As evidenced by some of the documents uncovered in Osama bin Laden’s compound, train lines around the world are a top target for terrorist plots. So what can you do to make sure you don’t miss a warning sign the next time you catch a train or subway? Below are tips from transportation experts about what they think are the most important things for passengers to keep in mind in order to keep themselves and their fellow passengers as safe as possible.
- “Get involved in security. Passengers are the first line of defense. We protect each other. Don’t hesitate to promptly report whatever you see that seems suspiciously different from the normal everyday patterns. If the situation looks dangerous, back away, then report.”—Brian Michael Jenkins, director of Mineta’s National Transportation Security Center of Excellence
- “Probably the most basic way to keep safe is to be alert for unattended packages. The first place I saw signs suggesting this was on the subway in London, England in 1978. At the time, violence in the British Isles was mainly from the religious disputes in Northern Ireland.”—“Railfan” Bill Vandervoort, founder of the Chicago Transit and Railfan web site, commenting on how he’s seen the threat of explosives on trains evolve since the late 1970s.
- “The most important thing a passenger can do to keep themselves safe is to remember “See Something Say Something.” This is a national campaign theme but it couldn’t be better put. Anyone riding on public transportation that sees someone acting abnormal, something that doesn’t look right, like someone leaving luggage behind or left unattended, they should say something to a train or transit employee. They received security awareness training and will know what to do, the passenger should not take it on themselves to act if at all possible.”—Clinton Williams, associate vice president at infrastructure consultancy HNTB
