University of Arkansas announces study on security of rural transportation networks | 01.14.2008 | 07:55:16 | Views: 5778 | ID: January 14 '08: The University of Arkansas has released an announcement about a new study (Download here - large file though!) looking into the nation's rural transportation networks' security. In the press release, the University said that more than 83 percent of the country's "infrastructure is not urban," and that since 9/11, much of the focus on homeland security had been looking at the state of more populated areas. Heather Nachtmann, the director of the transportation center and associate professor of industrial engineering said, "Studying the security of rural transportation networks is important because most of the existing knowledge is based on transportation networks in urban areas. ... So one of the goals of our research was to evaluate the scalability and adaptability of existing urban-based tools to the security of rural transportation security networks." The study looked at the geography, public transportation, air travel, rail travel and auto networks and how security plans and precautions are developed - or if they are existing in the first place. The researchers found that there existed "significant differences" between disaster and security scenarios when urban and rural areas were compared. The study said that rather than focusing on specific "risk scenarios" when working in urban environments, "planning for rural areas should focus on critical assets, such as bridges and dams, equipment, highways, riverways, railways and airways. ... Concentrating on these assets allows rural transportation departments to focus on limited resources, manpower and dollars on high-risk areas," the press release reported.
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