USDOT grants $5.4 million to combat human trafficking

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao yesterday announced $5.4 million in grant selections as part of the Federal Transit Administration's Human Trafficking Awareness and Public Safety Initiative. 

Under the initiative, 24 organizations — including five transit-rail agencies — will each receive funding for projects to help prevent human trafficking and other crimes on public transportation. 

The initiative will fund employee training and public education on preventing human trafficking for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which will receive a grant of $49,600; Bi-State Development of St. Louis, $187,500; and California’s Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, $350,000.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon will receive $151,052 to develop and disseminate educational material for its riders on how to identify and report potential risks, as well as to install digital displays at transit centers to share the information. 

And the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority will receive $176,000 to implement a pilot study to evaluate ways to reduce crime at Metrorail stations.

For a full list of the selected projects, click here.

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, affecting millions of adults and children in the United States and worldwide. Traffickers move their victims on all modes of transportation, and sometimes use public transportation due to its low cost, greater anonymity in buying fare cards and less direct interaction with government or transit officials, FTA officials said in a press release.

"The funding announced [yesterday] will empower transit agencies and other organizations to develop local solutions to address human trafficking on buses, trains and other forms of public transportation," said FTA Acting Administrator K. Jane Williams. "Our goal is to build awareness among all transit operators and the traveling public to enable them to recognize and report potential instances of human trafficking."

The total dollar amount for the projects includes $4 million in funding announced earlier this year, as well as an additional $1.4 million.

Others across the nation are joining the initiative to combat human trafficking, including representatives from the Texas, Louisiana and Georgia state departments of transportation, whose leaders talked about anti-trafficking programs during a panel discussion at a USDOT event held yesterday.

Also yesterday, Virginia Railway Express officials announced the railroad will use materials developed jointly by USDOT and the Department of Homeland Security to train staff and Keolis crew members who work on commuter-rail trains to spot common indicators of human trafficking and report suspected activity.