TSA proposes security training for rail, bus workers
Dec. 16, 2016
USA Today
By Bart Jansen
ABA President & CEO Peter Pantuso comments on the latest Transportation Security Administration's proposal to require security training for railroad and bus workers, to protect against terrorism:
The American Bus Association, a trade group for companies providing 600 million passenger trips per year, told TSA that front-line workers are trained to watch for threats.
Peter Pantuso, CEO of the bus association, said the group is happy to see TSA prioritize transportation beyond airlines. The bus group is analyzing the impact and benefit of the proposal on the bus industry with 20 times the passengers of Amtrak and twice as many as airlines.
The proposal applies to just a fraction of the motorcoach industry, so the bus group wants to understand the justification for that, Pantuso said. But the industry supports the training examples cited in the proposal.
“As in the past, funding is important to help the industry facilitate development and evaluation of effectiveness,” Pantuso said. “Standardization of these key programs is important and we look forward to continue supporting TSA in the collective efforts to ensuring the safety and protection of our national surface transportation network.”