THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN PREPARING SUBWAY SYSTEMS FOR CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL TERRORISM

Recent events have raised concern among public transit agencies regarding the potential for chemical or biological terrorism. In particular, the sarin attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995 revealed that a significant number of casualties could result from even a small release of a chemical agent, due to the high density of people in the subway and the spread of agent by the movement of trains. This paper describes technologies that can be put into place in a subway system in an attempt to save thousands of lives in an accident. One of the technologies described is PROTECTS (Program for Response Options and Technology Enhancements for Chemical/Biological Terrorism in Subways), the U.S. Department of Energy initiative that represents an integrated approach toward dealing with such incidents.

• 
• Corporate Authors:

  American Public Transportation Association

  1201 New York Avenue, NW
  Washington, DC    20005
• Authors:
  • Policastro, A J
  • GORDON, S P
• Conference:
  • 1999 Commuter Rail/Rapid Transit Conference, Proceedings
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • Date: 1999-5-22 to 1999-5-27
• Publication Date: 1999

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 226-234

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Chemical agents; Public transit; Safety and security; Security; Subways; Technology assessment; Terrorism
• Subject Areas: Public Transportation; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00766390
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 16 1999 12:00AM