COMMENTARY
The TSA's pilot "Pre-check" program that pre-screens travelers who volunteer for it is an overdue advance in security, but it does not address some larger issues surrounding America's airports, writes K. Jack Riley.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Examines the security costs and benefits of a trusted traveler program, in which individuals who have been identified as posing less risk than others are allowed to pass through security checkpoints with reduced security screening.
REPORT
This briefing offers a menu of potential future activities for the nonaviation lands at Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO) to enhance the quality of life in Santa Monica through community-linked programs.
COMMENTARY
For most of the past decade, the U.S. has pursued policies with very little regard to the costs they impose on travelers or the net reduction in risk that they generate, writes K. Jack Riley.
COMMENTARY
It may be possible that the development and deployment of improved security technologies and reconfigurations of security checkpoints will keep security one step ahead of terrorist adversaries, but it also may be an appropriate time to explore fundamentally new approaches, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
PERIODICAL
The 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks warrants a thoughtful review of America's progress and future strategy. In this RAND Review cover story, RAND experts offer perspectives on Afghan-led solutions, ways to counter al Qaeda, air passenger security, and compensation for those affected by terrorism.
NEWS RELEASE
A new collection of essays by experts from the RAND Corporation examines America in the decade since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, focusing a critical eye on the nation's actions since the attacks and outlining changes in strategy needed to improve efforts against jihadist groups.
REPORT
A new collection of essays by experts from the RAND Corporation examines America in the decade since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, focusing a critical eye on the nation's actions since the attacks and outlining changes in strategy needed to improve efforts against jihadist groups.
REPORT
Air Force range managers are responsible for scheduling the ranges and infrastructures units need for critical, realistic testing and training, sometimes on short notice. They must also supply associated requirements, which requires information and understanding. To aid this, the authors offer an example method that marries the Center Scheduling Enterprise with an update of an existing RAND tool (provided on CD).
REPORT
There are no plans to discontinue the use of whole-body image scanning machines and pat downs in airports around the country. In light of concerns about the cost, safety, effectiveness, and privacy of these procedures, the author explores air travel security performance since 9/11, identifies missed opportunities and innovations, and considers potential next steps.
REPORT
What aeronautics research should be supported by the U.S. government? What compelling and desirable benefits drive that research? How should the government make these decisions? The authors develop a unified decisionmaking approach for addressing these questions. This framework quantifies the social and economic reasons for the research, balances competing perspectives, and enables transparent explanation of the resulting decisions.
REPORT
The U.S. Air Force's KC-10 air refueling fleet has been in service for 25 years without a major avionics upgrade. Without modernization, the KC-10 will not be in compliance with upcoming air traffic management mandates regulating the minimum allowed communication, navigation, and surveillance capabilities.
REPORT
Aviation has few near-term alternative-energy options to petroleum-based fuels. Of alternatives that may be available in commercial quantities in the next decade, Fischer-Tropsch and hydroprocessed renewable jet fuels may reduce aviation's impact on climate but are likely to be available only in limited quantities. All alternatives benefit aviation as well as nonaviation sectors and improve air quality.
COMMENTARY
Published commentary by RAND staff: Speed Low-Risk Travelers Through Increased Security, in Los Angeles Business Journal.
REPORT
Despite the high level of security at LAX, it may still be viewed by terrorist groups as an attractive target. The airport should reduce the density of people in unsecured areas and add permanent vehicle security checkpoints with bomb-detection capabilities.
REPORT
Examines the capabilities and costs of onboard technologies to divert missiles attacking commercial airliners. Given the significant uncertainties in the cost and effectiveness of countermeasures, a decision to install them should be postponed, and concurrent development efforts to reduce these uncertainties should proceed as rapidly as possible.
REPORT
In the wake of September 11, 2001, the Transportation Security Agency was given the responsibility for ensuring that all baggage flying on U.S. aircraft would be screened. Left undefined was how much equipment should be deployed to scan all baggage thoroughly while not unnecessarily inconveniencing the public. This documented briefing seeks to answer the question, “how much is enough?” by minimizing costs to the public for…
REPORT
This summary of a large RAND study explains how researchers calculated the minimum cost to the nation’s economy of providing baggage scanning at all U.S. airports. The cost of the scan-every-bag mandate is estimated to be about $4.5 billion; positive passenger profiling — sometimes called the “registered traveler” program — could lower the total cost to about $2.5 billion if 50 percent of passengers were…
REPORT
Can positive passenger profiling lower the overall costs of airport security while minimizing the inconvenience to the flying public and retaining airport security at a high level? The authors calculate the cost of scanning as many bags as possible without abandoning the benefits of profiling.
REPORT
This study examines near-term options for reducing the terrorist threat to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The key to implementing a successful strategy of deterrence is to understand and reduce LAX’s vulnerabilities. The authors analyze a wide range of possible terrorist actions and assess LAX’s level of vulnerability. They then examine possible alternative courses of action LAX can take to reduce these…
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