Department of Transportation (DOT) officials are espousing the benefits of a series of initiatives they said are designed to combat human trafficking in the transportation sector.
DOT Secretary Chao recently joined congressional and state leaders, as well as transportation industry personnel in addressing the issue.
“The U.S. Department of Transportation is committed to working with our public and private partners to fight human trafficking on America’s transportation system,” said Chao, who announced $5.4 million in grant selections through the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Human Trafficking Awareness and Public Safety Initiative in which 24 organizations nationwide would receive funding for projects to help prevent human trafficking and other crimes on public transportation.
Chao also outlined a renewed focus on the ‘Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking’ pledge to train the transportation workforce and raise public awareness on the issue of human trafficking across all modes of transportation, challenging the transportation industry to commit to 100 Pledges in 100 Days.
DOT officials said they anticipate over 1 million employees across all modes of transportation will be trained because of the initiative. Chao has established an annual $50,000 award to incentivize individuals and entities to think creatively in developing innovative solutions to combat human trafficking in the transportation industry.