The slow-moving world of transit security grants

In 2006 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey won a $1.3 million federal transit security grant to install TV cameras in the Lincoln Tunnel express bus lane. It's still working on it.

In 2007, the authority won $2 million to expand dog patrols. It decided not to do it.

And in 2008 the authority was awarded $36 million to harden PATH tunnel security. It hasn't even begun work on it.

Welcome to the slow-moving world of federal transit security grants.

On the 2008 tunnel project, for example, the Department of Homeland Security gave the go-ahead just last week, after a congressionally required environmental and historic preservation review took 20 months.

But the authority also bears some of the blame. It is still working on 2006 projects because, a spokesman said, "It took a while to engineer and design them before we could start."- TOM BRUNE