BART Awarded, Grateful for $8.7M in Federal Security Funds
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded Bay Area Rapid Transit $8,798,769 for two security projects after a competitive selection process. BART received the highest award amount in California and the fifth highest in the country, and as such is extraordinarily grateful to the California congressional delegation, especially Congressman Eric Swalwell and Leader Nancy Pelosi, and to the Department of Homeland Security for backing security projects at BART year after year. BART also thanks former DHS Secretary John Kelly and acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke for their role in securing these funds.
$7,500,000 of the total will go toward projects protecting the Transbay Tube, with the remaining $1,298,769 allocated to BART’s Critical Asset Patrol Teams. These teams consist of one sergeant and seven officers assigned to protect the Critical Asset Corridor, the passageway linking San Francisco and Oakland containing both critical infrastructure and high volumes of passenger traffic at predictable times.
In FY 2017, the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) provided $88,000,000 to the Nation’s high-threat Urban Areas for enhancement of security measures at critical transit infrastructure including bus, ferry, and rail systems. The intent of the FY 2017 TSGP is to competitively award grant funding to assist transit systems in obtaining the resources required to harden in the face of potential threats.
