Anti-terrorism exercise held at CBBT – WAVY.com
The rail, ferries and tunnels in Hampton Roads are getting extra attention. On Tuesday morning, dozens of law enforcement agents greeted drivers at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The substantial traffic stop included a driver's license check as well as explosive and drug sniffing dogs.
It is part of the Transportation Security Administration's Viper Program and the agents aren't your TSA airport screeners, according to Federal Security Director Jeffrey Horowitz.
"We do rail, we do busing, we do pipelines. We're out there for all commercial modes of transportation," he said.
Horowitz says the government saw a need to better protect its mass transit systems after the 2004 Madrid terrorist attack. Nearly two hundred people died in the coordinated bombing of several of Madrid's commuter trains.
