Mumbai bombing prompts officials
to seek $200 million from Congress
to beef up BART security

By Erica Holt, Bay City News Service

July 12, 2006

In the wake of recent deadly bombings of packed commuter trains in Bombay, India, Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are urging the U.S. Senate to approve a $50 million boost to transit security for the agency.

Congress has provided BART with about $150 million annually since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. According to BART officials, $50 million additional federal dollars should be a drop in the bucket, compared to the more than $250 million the agency says it needs for security.

BART Board Vice President Lynette Sweet wrote in a July 10 letter to U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer that the requested $200 million "would provide a much-needed funding increase over the last few years and allow transit systems in California and across the nation to be better prepared for possible terrorist attacks.''

According to BART officials, the transit system has been at elevated security levels before the attacks in India because of the recent anniversary of the 2005 London subway bombings. The agency cites a Brookings Institution report that found 42 percent of all terrorist attacks worldwide from 1991 to 2001 targeted rail and bus systems.

BART has spent more than $21 million since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, enhancing security, adding bomb-sniffing dogs to BART police and providing emergency response training for staff. According to BART, the federal government has reimbursed the agency for $9 million.

BART officials were on alert Tuesday morning after a report of "suspicious people,'' according to agency spokesman Linton Johnson. BART police conducted a 15-minute search of certain San Francisco stations, although no one turned up, according to Johnson.

The U.S. Senate will vote on a Homeland Security Appropriations Bill later this week that has passed the Committee on Appropriations without including additional funding for BART. The U.S. House of Representatives in June passed a version of the bill that would include the $50 million extra, or $200 million total, requested by BART.

BART officials hope the U.S. Senate will match at least that much.

Sweeney said in a statement: "Our public transit systems are, by their very nature, attractive to terrorists. BART and other transit agencies have been working diligently to improve security, but, like anything else, it takes money.''

Copyright © 2006 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

####