TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 525, Vol. 16: A Guide to Emergency Response Planning at State Transportation Agencies is designed to help executive management and emergency response planners at state transportation agencies as they and their local and regional counterparts assess their respective emergency response plans and identify areas needing improvement. NCHRP replaces a 2002 document, A Guide to Updating Highway Emergency Response Plans for Terrorist Incidents. NCHRP Report 525, Vol. 16 is supported by the following online appendixes: Appendix K - Annotated Bibliography; Appendix L - White Paper on Emergency Response Functions and Spreadsheet Tool for Emergency Response Functions; Appendix M - 2010 Guide Presentation. NCHRP Report 525: Surface Transportation Security is a series in which relevant information is assembled into single, concise volumes - each pertaining to a specific security problem and closely related issues. The volumes focus on the concerns that transportation agencies are addressing when developing programs in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed. Future volumes of the report will be issued as they are completed.

A series in which relevant information is assembled into single, concise volumes--each pertaining to a specific security problem and closely related issues. The volumes focus on the concerns that transportation agencies are addressing when developing programs in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed. Future volumes of the report will be issued as they are completed.

Terrorist attacks on surface transportation facilities in Moscow, Mumbai, London, and Madrid caused casualties and highlighted the vulnerability of such systems. The Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) is the primary fed. agency responsible for security of transportation systems. This testimony focuses on the extent to which: (1) DHS has used risk management in strengthening surface transportation security; (2) TSA has coordinated its strategy and efforts for securing surface transportation with stakeholders; (3) TSA has measured the effectiveness of its surface transportation security-improvement actions; and (4) TSA has made progress in deploying surface transportation security inspectors and related challenges it faces in doing so.

A series in which relevant information is assembled into single, concise volumes--each pertaining to a specific security problem and closely related issues. The volumes focus on the concerns that transportation agencies are addressing when developing programs in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed. Future volumes of the report will be issued as they are completed.

"Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration."

The surface transportation system is vital to our nation's economy, defense, and quality of life. Because threats against the system have hitherto been perceived as minor, little attention has been paid to its security. But the world is changing, as highlighted by dramatic incidents such as the terrorist chemical attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. As a consequence, security concerns are now attracting more attentionâ€"appropriately so, for the threat is real, and responding to it is hard. Although the surface transportation system is remarkably resilient, it is also open and decentralized, making a security response challenging. Research and development can contribute to that response in important ways. Some important themes emerge from analysis of this strategy. First, a dual-use approach, in which security objectives are furthered at the same time as other transportation goals, can encourage the implementation of security technologies and processes. Second, modeling could be used more to develop a better understanding of the scope of the security problem. Third, DOT can play an important role in developing and disseminating information about best practices that use existing technologies and processes, including low-technology alternatives. Finally, security should be considered as part of a broader picture, not a wholly new and different problem but one that is similar and closely connected to the transportation community's previous experience in responding to accidents, natural disasters, and hazardous materials.

The Transport. Security Admin¿s. (TSA) mission is to protect the nation¿s transport. network. Since its inception in 2001, TSA has developed and implemented a variety of programs and procedures to secure commercial aviation and surface modes of transport. Other DHS components, fed. agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector also play a role in transport. security. Previous reports have examined: (1) the progress TSA and other DHS components have made in securing the nation¿s aviation and surface transport. systems, and the challenges that remain; and (2) crosscutting issues that have impeded TSA¿s efforts in strengthening security. This testimony concerns the security of the nation¿s aviation and surface transport. systems.