Transit security grants available
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released application guidance for the fiscal year 2010 Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP). The grants fund efforts to protect critical surface transportation infrastructure and the traveling public from acts of terrorism, major disasters and other emergencies.
Eligible agencies are divided into two tiers. TSGP Tier I includes transit agencies in the eight highest-risk urban areas as determined by the Urban Areas Security Initiative urban areas list and the National Transit Database. TSGP Tier II consists of all other eligible transit agencies.
Based on ongoing intelligence analysis, extensive security reviews, consultations with the transit industry and congressional direction, DHS intends to focus the bulk of its available transit grant dollars on the highest-risk systems in the country’s largest metropolitan areas. Eligible agencies were identified using a risk analysis model that was also used in FY 2009.
DHS also has identified priority project types and placed them into groups based on their effectiveness to reduce risk. Certain types of projects that are effective at addressing risk will be given priority consideration for funding. Those groups have been prioritized based on departmental priorities and their ability to elevate security on a system-wide level, to elevate security to critical infrastructure assets, and to reduce the risk of catastrophic events and consequences.
Read more of DHS requirements for applying for TSGP grants.