U.S. DOT expands security response teams

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 14, 2001) — The U.S. Secretary of Transportation has recently set up six direct response teams to review security concerns for various transportation industries.

Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, a Rapid Response Team was set up to look at the threats to the aviation industry. But because of security concerns with other transportation modes, six new Direct Action Groups (DAG) consisting of government experts have also been included to examine other specific areas of concern.

There are six DAGs in place. Maritime was the first to be established, while other DAGs include pipelines, HAZMAT, surface, transit, and railroads.

Initial DAG reports find that the public and industry feel that they don’t have a “go-to” person for their concerns and believe the DOT should work to improve both internal and external communications. The DAG also said that industry saw no process for information flow and found that security needs to be tackled on an intermodal scale.

When finished, DAG reports will contain discussions and recommendations for the DOT.