Homeland Security Awards NTI $200,000 to Develop Antiterror Training for Nation’s Rail Industry

October 04, 2004

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information, contact Chris Kozub, assistant director, workplace safety, NTI, (732) 932-1700.

NEW BRUNSWICK/PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded the National Transit Institute (NTI), based at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, a $200,000 contract to develop an antiterror training program for employees of Amtrak, the freight railroads and commuter railroads.

The award marks the third time since July that the federal government has turned to NTI to develop specialized security training for the nation’s transportation industry. The federal funding awards total more than $1 million and will be used to provide system security training to public transit and state highway workers across the United States.

“Rutgers has made a commitment to emerge as a national leader in transportation and in homeland security research,” said Philip Furmanski, Rutgers’ executive vice president for academic affairs. “These funding awards are the direct outcome of the pioneering work in transportation security that has been under way at NTI during the past two years. The funding clearly demonstrates the federal government’s confidence in our ability to deliver practical solutions to one of the most significant challenges facing our country.”

The new contract was awarded by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a unit within Homeland Security, and directs NTI to design a computer-based training program for train crews, maintenance workers, mechanics and customer service personnel. The training is to enable rail workers to identify security threats, observe and report suspicious activities, and take actions to mitigate or recover from a threatened or actual emergency.

“Traditional security measures worked well in the past in countering routine criminal acts targeted against the transportation system,” TSA noted in the contract. “However, transportation officials and rail passenger employees indicate that new and improved training initiatives are needed to address the non-traditional threats (e.g., chemical, biological and radiological devices and weapons of mass destruction that threaten the transportation system).”

NTI began offering antiterror training for the transit industry in June 2002 when it developed System Security Awareness for Transportation Employees. Funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the course has since been delivered to 61,000 bus and rail transit employees nationwide at 650 agencies. In July, the FTA awarded NTI $600,000 to develop a second phase of that program.

In September, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program awarded NTI $250,000 to adapt its System Security Awareness program for state highway employees. NTI was created at Rutgers under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to develop, promote, and deliver training and education programs for the public transit industry. NTI receives funding from the Federal Transit Administration and in 1999 became part of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center within the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

Contacts: Steve Manas 732/932-7084, ext. 612 E-mail: smanas@ur.rutgers.edu

or

Rick Remington 732/932-6812, ext. 552 E-mail: remingr@rci.rutgers.edu