Metro makes brilliant, kind of lame moves

October 27, 1:17 PMDC Transportation ExaminerKatherine M. Hill

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Sometimes it's the little things that count. In the face of bigger problems, Metro officials announced that Metrorail and Metrobus riders will be the recipient of hand sanitizer.

Riders can obtain the sanitizer Metro's press release notes that five to 20 percent of the U.S. population suffer through the flu every season.

As someone who has received the germs of others riding transit and suffered the consequences (see my blog The Perils of Public Transportation where I write to the guilty party in "An Open Letter") through the flu, bronchitis, and general ickyness. Until I was an obsessively dedicated transit rider I was immune to flu season (pun unintended). Metro will be setting up booths to hand out the sanitizer and inform riders. The locations are the following:

Health information and the free handouts are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on the following days and locations:
· Tuesday, October 28, at Eastern Market and Farragut North Metrorail stations
· Wednesday, October 29, at Franconia-Springfield and Braddock Road Metrorail stations
· Thursday, October 30, at Forest Glen and New Carrollton Metrorail stations

In addition, 2,000 free bottles of hand sanitizer, compliments of W.W. Grainger, Incorporated’s local Lanham, Md., office also will be distributed.

I try to have a bottle in my bag at all times and I'd love it if you did the same. I'd also love it if you could cover your mouth when you cough, catch your mucus with a tissue when you sneeze, and be mindful of your germs. Seriously, if you don't, it might come to blows based as words this season.

Unfortunately, for Metro's really great announcement, the public relations team released a really irritating announcement: Transit police will begin a bag inspection program. From the press release:

The Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) will begin a bag inspection program and look into passengers’ bags prior to them entering the Metro system in an ongoing effort to protect Metro riders, employees and facilities. Officers will be inspecting bags for explosive devices.

 If safety was an issue, why wasn't the program implemented in 2001 or 2005? The program would have easily slid into the anti-terrorism agenda in either year (or during the span).

Other major cities are not currently implementing this program and I think DC residents will be safe without it. (DCist reports that New York and Boston implemented searches in 2005; New York's search is news to me, and I've never ridden Boston's transit and quite frankly, paid less attention to it. Has anyone been searched in either city, especially New York? Metro adds that it met with New York, Boston and New Jersey to observe the programs in those area before implementing its own.) DC is the nation's capital, but it's not the only city that would be targeted in the event of another terrible attack.

I worry how this is going to affect our commutes. Have you tried to enter the Smithsonian when it's begun to rain? Though the museums have many doors, there are few entrances as tourists and residents are funneled through bag checks and metal detectors. Small scuffles begin as otherwise pleasant families are crammed together. Now imagine the less pleasant crowds: the 9-to-5ers, tourists and DC residents on the average day. And again during rush hour. Does your head hurt? Would if explode if I asked you to imagine the chaos with a bag check during a holiday or a weekend with a big event downtown? My god, we might as well walk from Germantown to the capitol. We'd have better luck.

And, when has anything of yours ever been confiscated? Food and drink are generally not allowed inside, but I've only been reprimanded once, and it was a general eyeroll. For the wait (which is never as desperate as a dash for a train) it takes an awfully long time for someone to poke around disinterestedly with a ruler. Presumably Metro police will be less apathetic, given that Metro's apathy is usually reserved for malfunctioning SmartTrip cards.

The "good" news in this situation is that the checks are "random," but anyone who has flown know how easy it is to be targeted. If you're not white, expect your purse to be rifled through:

At the inspection site, teams of five to eight Metro Transit Police officers and a trained explosive-detection dog will conduct the screenings. Riders who are randomly selected will be taken off to the side and will be asked to open their carry-on items. In a matter of seconds, officers will visually inspect the contents for explosive devices. Individuals who refuse to have their bag or bags inspected will not be allowed to enter the Metro system with those carry-on items. The will be free to leave the system with their items.

Given the ongoing animosity towards photographers in Union Station, I suspect photographers in that area can expect a little grief after shooting the architecture when boarding the rail.

The political climate has naturally given way to this anyway, and Metro announced in the same press release that extra enforcement would be in play during the inauguration season. It's to be expected, and Metro bring in more force during summer holidays anyway. Extra bodies to maintain good behavior isn't a problem. It doesn't slow my trains, it doesn't prevent me from getting to work, home, dinner reservations or a concert. I just don't expect that bag checks will follow the same, and unfortunately, I don't expect to see a level of respect and friendliness, either. Which is a shame. Guarantee me not that I will need to be patient and sigh less and instead, promise me that you won't disrupt my life, Metro.

DC has a reputation to following the trend ten years too late. Maybe we should accept this as the district's failing for timeliness? Before you blast me for underestimating terrorism, remember that this blog has a "new" policy on commenting. (And following McCain and Palin's stance on DC residents--we're not that American anyway--it might be futile, no?)