Proposed changes by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in FY ’11 that favor the North and East urban areas of the United States for Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) funding, which will result in the western half of the country getting less of these funds, a bipartisan congressional group from Southern California said this week.
“This administrative redistribution will severely reduce or eliminate available security funding to transit systems in the Western part of the United States, including Southern California, and lessen the protection of the communities they serve,” said the representatives, which include Loretta Sanchez (D), Brian Bilbray (R), Ed Royce (R), Lucille Roybal- Allard (D), Adam Schiff (D) and Bob Filner (D).
The current TSGP distribution already favors transit systems in the North and East, the representatives say in their Oct. 6 letter to TSA Administrator John Pistole. In FY ’10, these regions are getting 76 percent of the funds versus 4 percent for transit systems in Southern California, they say.
The TSGP provides anti-terrorism funding to transit agencies operating in the highest risk urban areas of the country.
The Southern California representatives say that in FY ’11 TSA is proposing that more funding go to a “Top 50” list of critical transportation targets, which includes about 62 sites. From this list, only two assets are west of the Mississippi River, one in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco, they say.
“Although specific distribution details have yet to be announced, transit systems and projects which do not receive funding through the ‘Top 50’ target list will be forced to compete nationally for any TSGP funds that remain,” the letter says. “This will leave many transit systems throughout the nation vulnerable, even though they have already been identified by DHS as high risk systems with significant needs.”