SAIC TEAM AWARDED TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD CONTRACT.

A team led by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) recently announced it is one of three task order contractors selected by the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, both units in the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academy of Sciences, to conduct research in responding to the transportation sector's homeland security needs.

The cooperative research programs within the TRB have committed more than $3 million to 2002 security research efforts.

This five-year task order was awarded to SAIC's Energy Solutions Group, and will be managed by David Friedman, SAIC's director of transportation for the Group. SAIC team members include Parsons Brickenhoff located at New York, N.Y., and The Mineta Transportation Institute located at San Jose, Calif.

Under the terms of the contract, the SAIC team will provide quick-response research on transportation issues related to emergency incident prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery from potential terrorist attacks. The research will develop analytical methods, tools, procedures, and techniques to support statewide, local, and metropolitan transportation organizations in planning, exercising, and evaluating their security programs. It will include the development of integrated strategies to address the threat of nuclear, chemical, biological and other weapons of mass destruction. Emphasis will be placed on the development of tools and strategies that can be used to assess local threats, but implemented in an integrated manner with regional and national response and recovery programs.

"SAIC has been providing government and commercial clients all over the world with in-depth analytical services paired with sophisticated technology tools to implement security initiatives and programs for more than three decades," said David Kay, director for SAIC's Homeland Security Task Force. "This contract with TRB will enable us to help our nation's transportation sector continue serving the public efficiently, while enhancing public safety. We look forward to using SAIC's integrated transportation security and systems skills to help TRB meet the nation's expectations in protecting the homeland."

Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) is a global engineering, planning, and construction management firm, providing a full-range of services for transit systems, tunnels, bridges, highways, power facilities, airports, ports, and marine facilities, as well as buildings and site developments. An employee-owned company, PB has more than 9,000 professionals working in over 250 corporate and project offices worldwide.

The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) was established by Congress at San Jose State University under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and reauthorized in 1998 under TEA-21, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. MTI was created to provide transportation management and policy research and education for the U.S. transportation community.