For years Metro has offered email and text message alerts for disruptions in rail service, and now it’s doing the same for buses.

Was the traffic chaos that developed during January’s big snowstorm a sign that the Washington region is ill-prepared to keep its citizens informed in the event of a terrorist attack? Maybe! At least, that was the conclusion reached by several local leaders yesterday during a Department of Homeland Security briefing.

Federal officials announced today that many smartphone users in Washington will receive alerts regarding “national or regional emergencies” — similar to those familiar Emergency Broadcast System television announcements — on their cell phones beginning by the end of the year. According to the New York Times, the service, which will also be installed in New York, will be available to those who have a special chip inside their phones and will pass along messages like “alerts issued by the president, information about public safety threats and Amber Alerts for missing children.”