NJ TRANSIT AND AMERICAN RED CROSS TEAM UP FOR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORT

Customers can also make donations to the American Red Cross through their secure website (www.redcross.org), by calling 1-800-HELP-NOW or by sending a check to American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, PO Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013.

NJ TRANSIT police officers will participate in the effort at Newark Penn Station, the state¿s largest transportation hub, by distributing emergency preparedness guides and security alert cards. The cards provide NJ TRANSIT¿s toll-free number for reporting unattended packages or suspicious activity¿1-888-TIPS-NJT¿as well as other transit security tips.

¿When it comes to system security, there is no substitute for the vigilance of our customers and employees,¿ Chief Bober said. ¿Collectively, they add hundreds of thousands of additional ¿eyes and ears¿ on the system each day.¿

Since 2001, NJ TRANSIT has significantly enhanced its emergency preparedness capabilities, including:

• Improving communication between control centers and NJ TRANSIT crews
• Creating regional ¿Go Teams¿ consisting of specially trained NJ TRANSIT managers who will be immediate deployed to incidents
• Creating ¿Emergency Response Teams¿ to report to major terminals to assist customers during incidents
• Training nearly 50 Emergency Response Team members in Community Emergency Response Training (CERT), in conjunction with NJTPD and New Jersey State Police, to assist emergency responders at an incident scene
• Improving visibility of emergency procedures on all vehicles, with accompanying panel cards available at major terminals and stations
• Equipping trains and stations with bullhorns
• Improving broadcast emergency alerts to keep the public informed
• Implementing the ¿My Transit Alert¿ system, which provides NJ TRANSIT service information to customers¿ pagers, cell phones and PDAs
• Created the Trans-Hudson Emergency Task Force in the wake of the 2003 blackout to improve interagency coordination and response to regional incidents
• Improving public address systems throughout the system
• Conducting full-scale field emergency drills on an annual basis
• Conducting smaller table-top exercises on a quarterly basis

In addition, NJ TRANSIT has enhanced system security in the following ways:

• Increased the size of the NJ TRANSIT Police Department by more than 70 percent

• Tripled the number of K9 explosive detection teams
• Made investments in state-of-the-art electronic countermeasures
• Implemented random baggage inspections
• Increased the number of uniformed and plainclothes officers on patrol
• Implemented a toll-free number for reporting unattended packages or suspicious activity (1-888-TIPS-NJT)
• Activated an intelligence-based crime analysis center
• Installed a new police central communications center
• Deployed radiological pagers throughout the system
• Created security zones around major stations and terminals, including barriers and checkpoints

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 779,200 daily trips on 240 bus routes, three light rail lines and 11 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 162 rail stations, 52 light rail stations and more than 17,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.

American Red Cross representatives will be at the following NJ TRANSIT stations:

* Donations accepted at bold locations