U.S. Increases Threat Level for Mass Transit

Many of the nation's 14 million daily mass-transit commuters noticed new security measures yesterday morning on their way to work before the announcement. At 6 a.m., New York City was one of the first to begin adding police officers to transit systems, and city officials reported no noticeable decrease in ridership. The police department doubled its normal number of 3,000 officers assigned to the mass-transit system and put an officer on every train during the morning commute. City and state agencies are monitoring the city's water supply and air for biological and chemical weapons.

Some wary New Yorkers said the London bombings had them rethinking their subway routes and plans for the day. "I didn't want to go to work anymore, but I had to take a chance," said accountant Michael Johnson, 41, on his way to lunch. "I tried to leave home a little earlier and miss the morning rush."

On Boston's T subway system, a message repeatedly asked passengers to be on the lookout for suspicious activities "now more than ever" and gave a phone number to call to report anything out of the ordinary. "If you see something, say something," the message said.

Passengers became confused at midday, when Boston's green line, one of the city's busiest public transit routes, was shut down because of a minor collision between two trains that injured at least one person. Commuters streamed out of the subway and onto shuttle buses, escorted by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials and state police. Many stopped to ask if the closure of the line was related to the attacks in London. "Just an unfortunate coincidence," a policeman said.

In Chicago, officials monitored the 2,000 surveillance cameras stationed across the city. Police with bomb-sniffing dogs patrolled the El train's orange line, where riders said they had no choice but to use the system to get to work and other activities.

"I'm sure people are concerned it can happen here, you never know," said former Marine Hank Lemecha, 58, in Chicago. But he added: "I'm more worried about the train falling off the track since we're 110 feet up."

Amtrak said it stepped up security across its national system yesterday, including deploying bomb-sniffing dogs at rail stations and adding more law enforcement officers to patrol the areas. Since the Madrid bombings, Amtrak now requires identification for people buying train tickets at the counter, and employees check IDs randomly as passengers board trains, a spokeswoman said.

Riley and other security experts said the federal government could do more to improve mass-transit security by increasing camera surveillance, inspecting trash bins more thoroughly and expanding training of employees and passengers to report suspicious packages.

The American Public Transportation Association said its members, who operate municipal transit systems in U.S. cities, need $6 billion in security improvements, with a priority on expanding the ranks of police officers. "The reality is the federal government's funding is woefully inadequate," said Rose Sheridan, spokeswoman for the group. "Since 9/11, the aviation industry received $18.1 billion. The public transit agencies have received $250 million and there's 16 times more riders on public transit."

On Capitol Hill yesterday, Democrats and some Republicans vowed to add millions of dollars to the Homeland Security Department's 2006 budget for rail, bus and other transit security, even though similar efforts have not passed in previous years. Homeland Security missed a congressional deadline earlier this year to provide a strategic plan for how to protect the nation's transportation systems. The plan was to be used as a guide for spending.

"We're going to have to refine what it is we're trying to do and TSA has just not done that. What do we do to screen people on mass transit? How can we do it?" said Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee. "In spite of everyone's pleading with them, we haven't been able to get TSA to focus on mass-transit security."

Staff writers Peter Slevin and Kari Lydersen in Chicago, Jonathan Finer in Boston, and Michelle Garcia in New York contributed to this report.