MTI examines effectiveness of ‘See Something, Say Something’ programs

The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University recently examined the global effectiveness of “See Something, Say Something” programs in preventing terrorist attacks on public surface transportation and discovered the programs prevent between 10 percent and 14 percent of attacks.

“Since 1980, the worldwide detection rate has improved for attacks on train, track, and road targets, but not for attacks on buses, which has only slightly declined,” Bruce Butterworth, one of the authors of the MTI report, said. “Group One countries (nations with high economies such as the United States) have shown the greatest improvement, and the detection rates for track targets is approaching 30 percent, and 20 percent for train targets.”

There have been 5,372 terrorist attacks on public surface transportation systems since 1970. Reporting suspicious activity resulted in 10.6 percent of attacks being prevented, and 99 percent involved suspicious packages.

Of the terrorist attacks, 2,793 targeted buses, bus stations or people waiting at bus stops; 1,381 targeted trains and train stations; 835 targeted railroad tracks; and 363 targeted highway infrastructure such as tunnels and bridges.

The programs helped to stop 13.8 percent of suicide bombers, and Group One nations stopped 14.2 percent of attacks.

MTI is funded by the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security.