Public transit safetySafeguarding the Nation’s Public Transit Systems

Published 16 February 2021

While millions of Americans are working from home due to the ongoing pandemic, using public transportation remains a daily necessity for many. Public health measures like wearing a mask, installing new ventilation systems and filters, and reducing capacity all help to keep commuters safe – but there is always more that can be done to ensure the continued safety and security of mass transit nationwide.

While millions of Americans are working from home due to the ongoing pandemic, using public transportation remains a daily necessity for many. Public health measures like wearing a mask, installing new ventilation systems and filters, and reducing capacity all help to keep commuters safe – but there is always more that can be done to ensure the continued safety and security of mass transit nationwide.

To bolster these efforts, the Department of Homeland Security (DHSScience and Technology Directorate (S&T) has partnered with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City to study how simulated coronavirus aerosols travel through buses and train cars to inform disinfection and other virus mitigation methods.

This is just one example of how the S&T Urban Security Initiative (USI) is working to ensure the security of U.S. public transit systems from hazards – be they natural, accidental or intentional in nature. S&T has been developing and perfecting various threat detection technologies for public transit through this suite of collaborative projects to not only help protect high-density urban areas against virus spread, but also acts of terrorism.

“The main mission of the USI is to ensure that our cities are secure from both the spread of COVID-19 and potential weapons of mass destruction threats,” said program manager Don Bansleben, who leads the initiative for S&T. “We are developing capabilities, tools and resources in New York City that other states, cities and localities can use to better prepare for, respond to and recover from the pandemic or other emergency.”

S&T notes that many of the Urban Security Initiative projects involve both laboratory and field tests, because what works in a lab may not work in the field. S&T is collaborating with the city’s transportation, health, and public safety agencies, as well as federal counterparts, to simulate real-world threat environments and hazards as part of a whole-of government approach to preparedness and resiliency.  

As part of the Viral Phenomenology Study that took place in early February, S&T released a benign airborne coronavirus simulant into out-of-service MTA buses, subway and commuter railroad train cars to see how a virus travels when somebody breathes, coughs or sneezes. The findings will be applicable far beyond New York; other cities can use them as well.