PATH to Improve Security With National Guard Supplement

It's being reported that the National Guard will begin patrolling PATH alongside Port Authority cops. The joint patrols are seen as improving security in the PATH system, which connects New Jersey to Manhattan - including to the World Trade Center.

PATH commuters will see National Guard troops patrolling 13 stations in New Jersey and New York starting next week, authorities said.

The effort is similar to one already in place in New York's Penn Station and Grand Central Station.

"Protecting an open interstate transit system requires incredible cooperation and the Port Authority is an appropriate vehicle to test bistate partnership," Port Authority board chairman Anthony Coscia said in a statement.

The news of the joint patrols is not related to the Fort Dix plot according to officials and has been in the works for some time. Gov. Corzine and Gov. Spitzer had been working on improving bistate security issues and the PATH system handles tens of thousands of commuters daily.

The PATH system was also specifically targeted in a plot to flood the WTC bathtub last year.

The Port Authority also owns the WTC complex, which was damaged by Islamic terrorists in 1993 and destroyed by al Qaeda on September 11, 2001.