Transportation Security to Cost $8.8 Billion

WASHINGTON — President Bush’s budget plan for fiscal 2003 proposes to spend $8.8 billion for transportation security, or roughly 15% of the Transportation Department’s total $59.3 billion budget package.

Budget documents show that the security tab includes $4.8 to be spent by the newly created Transportation Security Administration in the aviation sector, earmarked for passenger and baggage screening operations.

Another $2.9 billion would be targeted at maritime security, and about $1.1 billion would cover federal security costs for all other transportation modes, including the trucking industry.

TSA Administrator John Magaw told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation Feb. 6 that aviation needs remain a priority for now, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in which terrorists turned hijacked airliners into weapons against ground targets.

For the full story, see the Feb. 11 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

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