The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the fourth-largest transit authority in the United States, has announced it will provide MBTA transportation personnel with Highway Watch anti-terrorism and safety training. Coordinated by the American Trucking Associations under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Highway Watch trains transportation professionals on the proper response techniques in the event they are the targets of a terrorist attack.
“We must continue to be at the cutting edge of adopting innovative methods to preserve the safety and security of our transit network,” says Daniel A. Grabauskas, MBTA general manager. “We are proud to be the first transit agency in the country to participate in Highway Watch and encourage other transit agencies to follow.”
Scheduled to begin this week, MBTA operations personnel will undergo training on how to observe and properly report suspected national security threats and highway safety incidents in a concise and accurate manner. Upon completing the Highway Watch training, MBTA transportation personnel will report all incidents to the MBTA’s Operations Control Center (OCC), which then will notify the Highway Watch call center for further investigation.
“We’re proud to have MBTA as the newest member of the Highway Watch team,” says Bill Jacobs, Highway Watch vice president. “We know that terrorists have targeted mass transit facilities around the world, and we’re happy to be a part of keeping MBTA’s system safe and secure.”
