AST Digital Magazine October 2017 Digital-Oct | Page 43

Mass Transit Security: Soft Target,
Hard Problem
Security across surface transportation systems is extremely challenging. S&T EXD is working with the TSA and surface
transportation authorities across the country to develop screening techs which will enhance security in a wide variety of open,
unstructured crowd venues.
Maintaining security on the nation’s sur-
face transportation systems takes sig-
nificant resources and manpower, both
which tend to be in short supply.
For example, the Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Authority (WMATA) is one of the busiest
transit systems in the nation, averaging about
712,000 trips per week day.
Metro Transit Police are acutely aware that rail
and subway systems are susceptible to attacks
or other acts of violence, due to both the high vol-
ume of commuters and the open, unstructured
nature of the environment.
But what if there were a way to detect potential
threats in bags or on persons from the moment
they entered the subway?
What if there was a way to know the path
individuals take as they move through
the system, and to relay that information
to transit police in real-time?
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority police (Im-
age courtesy of WMATAT)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is
testing a potential solution to this challenge.
S&T’s Homeland Security Advanced Research
Projects Agency (HSARPA) Explosives Division
(EXD) Surface Transportation Explosives Threat
Detection (STETD) Program is working to pro-
vide the surface transportation end-user com-
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