The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has commended six rail and mass transit agencies from across the nation for earning TSA’s highest rating of “Gold Standard” on their 2013 Baseline Assessments for Security Enhancement for their dedication to building a strong security program.
The BASE program is designed to establish a security standard for individual system security programs and assess progress. This voluntary comprehensive review of transit agency security programs focuses on multiple categories identified by the transit community as fundamentals for a sound transit security program. They include a review of topics such as an agency’s security plans, security training, drills/exercise programs, public outreach efforts and background check programs. The BASE program analyzes the security program for each transit system and identifies opportunities to further enhance security.
“These agencies are to be commended for their commitment and hard work that this level of achievement requires and for their continued dedication to ensure the security of travelers nationwide,” said TSA Administrator John S. Pistole.
These agencies were reviewed in 2013 and attained high scores across all categories. TSA considered this caliber of performance as reaching a “Gold Standard” and recognized them for having strong security programs. TSA continues to work with all transit agencies across the country to develop and implement robust security practices system-wide.
The six agencies recognized for achieving the Gold Standard in 2013 are: Sound Transit, Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, Hampton Roads Transit, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority/Tri-Rail, Valley Metro and Capital District Transportation Authority.
In addition to these six agencies, there have been 37 others that have previously earned the Gold Standard Award level of security since 2010.
