Surface Transportation Security
The Committee on Homeland Security has sole jurisdiction over all Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security matters, including TSA’s work to secure various modes of surface transportation such as mass transit systems, railroads, trucks, and pipelines.
Protecting U.S. surface transportation systems against terrorist attack poses unique challenges. Unlike aviation, most surface transportation systems have multiple access points and significantly higher passenger volume. Many security measures used in the aviation sector are simply not feasible in the open environment that these surface transportation systems require.
Since 9/11, we have seen devastating terrorist attacks against surface transportation around the globe. In the U.S., Faisal Shahzad launched a failed car bomb attack in Times Square in May 2010; Najibullah Zazi plotted to blow up the New York City subway system in 2009; and law enforcement officials arrested Faqrooque Ahmed for plotting to bomb the Washington, D.C. Metro system in 2010.
The Committee will continue to oversee DHS efforts to secure the U.S. surface transportation system from terrorist attack, examine the risks and consequences of such an attack, and develop security measures to reduce those risks.