Greater Funding Needed for Public Transit Security

The tragedy in London should make policymakers place more importance on public transit security funding, writes Neil Pearce.

1 minute read

July 19, 2005, 2:00 PM PDT

By Michael Dudley


"Since 9/11, Washington has allocated a scant $250 million for transit security, compared with the $18.1 billion it has granted the airline industry...As for Congress, before the London bombings the Republican-controlled Senate had been set to reduce the allocation for public-transit-safety efforts from $150 million to $100 million in the $31.8 billion appropriations bill for homeland-security operations. After London, suggestions emerged to increase the total — though still by just a fraction of what the airline industry receives...Since 9/11, public-transit agencies — out of their own tight budgets, and because of apparent holes in our national-security defenses — have been obliged to spend $2 billion on new safety measures, including police visibility, undercover security, canine patrols and security sweeps on vehicles and stations."

Thanks to Michael Dudley

Monday, July 18, 2005 in The Seattle Times

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