FHWA Launches Transportation Security Web Site
Since September 11, 2001, considerable Federal, State, and local resources
have been devoted to ensuring the safety and security of the Nation's
transportation system. A new Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Operations
Security Web site (www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/OpsSecurity/)
was recently launched to provide agencies with streamlined access to
information on improving surface transportation security.
"The need to ensure the security of America's surface transportation
system is a top priority for the FHWA," said FHWA Administrator
Mary E. Peters. "We are working closely with the Department of
Homeland Security and other Federal agencies to help State and local
officials develop and carry out a comprehensive set of improvements
to increase the security of our transportation network."
Topics covered on the Web site include emergency planning, aligning
action plans with the Nation's Homeland Security Advisory System, and
improving military mobilization on roadways. "A lot of material
has been generated on such security topics over the past 2 years, but
getting that information to State and local practitioners has always
been a challenge," says Vince Pearce, acting director of FHWA's
Office of Transportation Operations. The Web site is designed to gather
all this information in one accessible place to help State and local
transportation agencies make more informed decisions about improving
the security of roadways in their areas. An added benefit is that many
of the strategies covered should also help agencies cope better with
natural disasters, which place similar demands on roadways. Case studies
cover the transportation components of the 1994 Northridge, California,
earthquake; a 2001 rail tunnel fire in Baltimore, Maryland; and the
9/11 terrorist attacks. The site also contains an activity list that
State officials can use to develop or refine their action plans for
responding to different Homeland Security alert levels, as well as information
on how to secure transportation-related information technology resources
during an emergency. The site links to relevant information from all
of the administrations within the Department of Transportation (DOT),
other Federal agencies, and such partners as the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Transportation Research
Board, American Public Works Association, and National Association of
County Engineers.
Pearce envisions the site as a doorway through which State and local
employees can gain access to other parties with similar interests and
goals. "Someone in a State DOT may not be aware of what the Federal
DOT's other modal administrations are doing," Pearce says, yet
those other sources may have useful information to share. Protecting
bridges and tunnels, for example, concerns not just FHWA, but also DOT's
railroad and public transit administrations. "Ultimately we hope
the Web site will help build partnerships among all those involved in
protecting and maintaining our transportation infrastructure,"
says Pearce.
Pearce plans to add documents and links to the site as he learns of
them. "I'll add anything that transportation highway operators
would find useful," he notes.
For more information on the Operations Security Web site, contact
Vince Pearce at 202-366-1548 (email: vince.pearce@fhwa.dot.gov).
![Screenshot of new FHWA Operations Security Web site](images/02screenshot.gif)
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