If ordered to evacuate - Look. Listen. Leave.
Safety and security are critical issues to passengers and transit employees alike. Various aspects of daily life and travel involve some risks, of course. However, making your ride as safe and secure as it can possibly be depends on everyone working together. An emergency evacuation is rare. However, under certain circumstances passengers may need to be evacuated as a safety precaution or to avoid danger.
Police emergencies, natural disasters (flooding, earthquakes and the like), fires, and collisions are among various situations that require quick thinking and action in order to avoid potential dangers. In the unlikely event that an evacuation is required, it is very important to be calm and listen to announcements or instructions from uniformed officials.
During an evacuation:
- Locate the nearest accessible exit - it may be an emergency door or window.
- Look around as you prepare to exit the transit vehicle or facility in order to avoid hazards, such as smoke, debris and unusual substances.
- Report anything hazardous or unusual to emergency personnel.
- Notice others who may need help and offer assistance. Children, the elderly and disabled individuals may require help from others during an evacuation.
- Pay attention to announcements.
- Listen and remain calm.
- Follow the instructions from transit employees and emergency personnel.
- Move quickly toward safety, leaving behind large or unwieldy objects like suitcases, strollers and heavy items.
- If evacuation is not possible through normal doors, use emergency doors or windows to exit safely.
- Be on the lookout for hazards and people to help, and listen to transit employees and emergency personnel while you leave the area.
Staying calm and alert while exiting a transit vehicle or transit facility in an emergency can save time and protect you and those around you from potential hazards and misinformation.
Recognizing Terrorist Activity
Someone bragging or talking about plans to harm citizens in violent attacks or who claims membership in a terrorist organization that espouses killing innocent people.
Suspicious packages, luggage, or mail that has been abandoned in a crowded place like an office building, an airport, a school, or a shopping center.
Suspicious letter or package that arrives in your mailbox. (Stay away from the letter or package and don’t shake, bump or sniff it; wash hands thoroughly with soap and water.)
Someone suspiciously exiting a secured, non-public area near a train or bus depot, airport, tunnel, bridge, government building, or tourist attraction.
Any type of activity or circumstance that seems frightening or unusual within the normal routines of your neighborhood, community, and workplace.
Someone suspiciously watching, mapping or photographing a landmark, airport, tunnel, bridge, government building, business, or tourist attraction.
Someone unfamiliar loitering in a parking lot, government building, or around a school or playground.
Someone using or threatening to use a weapon, place a bomb, or release a poisonous substance into the air, water, or food supply.
Strange odors, smoke, fire, or an explosion.
Abandoned vehicles.