Pace Suburban Bus
Transit Bus Familiarization Training for First Responders
Pace Suburban Bus was created by reform legislation in late 1983 and began operation throughout northeastern Illinois in the suburbs surrounding Chicago in mid 1984. The Pace system eventually replaced and significantly enhanced service once provided by several transit entities, some private, others municipally operated. Pace,headquartered in Arlington Heights, IL employs approximately 1,500 people. Serving DuPage, Will, Lake, McHenry and Cook counties,Pace’s10 Operating facilities and contracted services operatemore than 1,700 vehicles over 3,673 square miles, providing more than 34 million rides annually.
This makes Pace one of the largest mass transit systems in North America. However, unlike most agencies its size,Pace does not have its own police department or dedicated security force.Operations are decentralized across a service area approximately the size of the state of Connecticut. In the event of an emergencyPace must rely upon police and fire service from any of more than 210 separate jurisdictions.
Up until about 2003, very few suburban police or fire agencies in the region had shown an interest in training specific to responding to emergencies involving transit vehicles. In years prior, only a handful of fire departments had received a cursory show-and-tell of Pace buses.Since then, most of those bus models have been retired.Crime on the Pace system is virtually non-existent, so there wasseldominteraction between Pace and the law enforcement community. But in the post-911 environment, things began to change.
As terror involving transit buses was becomingmore frequent in other parts of the world, the possibility similar acts could occur on the Pace system was undeniable. Local police or fire departments could someday be faced with a life-threatening situation or deliberate act of terror involving a Pace transit bus; an environment completely unfamiliar to them. Without any knowledge of function of safety and operational features common to transit buses, an efficient and effective response could be hindered or worse, responders could unwittingly endanger themselvesand others.This was unacceptable.The solution was to find an effective way to familiarize response personnel throughout the region withPace transit equipment, enabling them to determine, develop, and practice tactics and training for their own disciplines around this knowledge.
Working together with police and fire, Safety and Training staff developed a training module comprised of photos and text describing bus components, operation and/or features relevant when responding to transit bus emergencies.Additionally, critical systems and components were identified which, when compromised, would render the vehicle inoperable. Pace Bus Maintenance Department was instrumental in verifying the accuracy of the material.PowerPoint was selected as a format that would be accessible and familiar to any agency.Separate CD’s were prepared for each Pace bus model, labeled with both a picture of the vehicle and the series number for quick and easy
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identification.Agencies are able to store the information in a command vehicleor on a laptop for quick reference in an emergency.As new bus models are purchased, new training material is developed and forwarded to participating agencies. All CDs are marked, distributed and handled as Sensitive Security Information (SSI).
Pace provides Instructors, vehicles and training materials at no cost. In most instances, classroom training is provided first. Usually an hour in length, an instructor provides both general information about buses and features specific to each model. There is much emphasis placed upon explaining braking and door interlock systems, the operation of which can be potentially dangerous to responders if not fully understood. One or two bus models representing those operating in that particular area or jurisdiction are made available for thorough walk-through and hands-on demo. Bus assault, breaching, clearing or medical emergency rescue tactics are applied during drills and scenarios involving civilian volunteers and/or Pace employees as role players.
Word of mouth among police and fire agencies quickly led to a flood of requests for training, and Pace is committed to meeting that challenge. Each year, hundreds of first responders participate in Transit Bus Familiarization training or annual refresher training. The popularity of this program among the first responder community has led to participation in joint training and exercises with a variety of law enforcement disciplines from across the region and neighboring states. While training with the Illinois State Police TRT, a group of tactical officers visiting from Poland practiced hostage rescue on Pace buses. Other training exercises involved bomb and/or drug detection canines, WMD and hazmat training in a transit environment.Pace provided buses for a not-for-profit organizationwhose experts provide specialized tactical training free of charge to officers whose departments have limited resources. Southwest (Suburban) Unified Fire District has incorporatedthe Pace programinto their Vehicle Extrication training. Citizen Emergency Response Teams from across the region have practiced rescue, extrications and triage on Pace buses. Pace is currently working with the Federal Air Marshall Service to develop an MOU to facilitate ongoing explosives detection canine training at each of Pace’s bus garages.
Members of regional SWAT teams, consisting of officers from multiple jurisdictions often recommend this training for other members of their departments, creating a demand for training patrol officers as part of their annual training. A situation involving a bus may need to be addressed by a lone officer or with little or no backup before a SWAT team can be called out and assembled.
The cost in developing and delivering a program like this are minimal. CDs are inexpensive and easy to duplicate. First responding agencies often prefer training during off-peak hours, on weekends or at night so equipment availability at any transit agency should not be a problem.
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Capitol Metro (Austin, Texas) developed a program modeled directly from Pace’s. Their efforts were highly successful, and the program has been expanded to include their new light rail system.
APTA has recommended development of similar programs in 2008. In 2009, TSA recognized Pace and has published a description of this program in their “Smart Security Practice” handbook to be shared with other agencies.Most recently, the Pace program was selected as the “Outstanding Practice/Program” for 2011 at the June, 2011 National UASI and Homeland Security Awards Conference Held in San Francisco.
It is impossible to assign a dollar value to this training program in terms of liability reduction, or lives and property potentially saved during an actual crisis.Clearly, the most valuable byproducts of the program are the working relationships and good will established between Pace and the first responder community. In working together, public safety professionalsbenefit from a new understanding of transit operations, equipment, emergency response capabilitiesand Pace’s shared commitment in safeguarding the riding public and first responders, alike.