"Passengers adapt to inconvenience"

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

9/11: FIVE YEARS LATER 
Passengers adapt to inconvenience 
Most think security measures are justified
By Michael Cabanatuan
The San Francisco (CA) Chronicle


Airline passengers kiss their loved ones goodbye far from the gate and stand
in security lines before removing their shoes, taking laptops from
briefcases, and tossing out bottled water, hair gel or eye drops packed in
carry-on luggage. Some travelers are patted down by federal security
officers and have their bags searched. 

Bathrooms in underground BART stations remain locked and ads warn commuters
to watch for suspicious packages. Police officers roam trains and stations,
sometimes accompanied by bomb-sniffing dogs, occasionally carrying
semiautomatic weapons. Other transit systems monitor video feeds from
cameras installed in stations, train yards, and aboard buses and trains. 

Five years ago, before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, most Americans
couldn't have imagined such security. Today, most people scarcely give it a
second thought. Americans, accustomed to stricter security, have largely
accepted changing security procedures, to the point of becoming blase. 

"It's a hassle, but things need to be that way," said Krista Hermawan, 28, a
San Francisco social worker who recently waited for her baggage at San
Francisco International Airport. "I know if I fly, the (risk of a terrorist
attack) is there, but I feel as safe as I did before 9/11." 

The most noticeable changes in travel procedures are found at airport
security checkpoints. When airports reopened after the attacks, officials
moved security checkpoints and allowed only ticketed passengers near the
gates. Checkpoints added more workers and sophisticated equipment and the
list of prohibited items grew to include things like box cutters and
scissors. 

After passengers and airline crews thwarted Richard Reid's plan to use a
bomb hidden in his shoe, travelers got used to putting their footwear
through an X-ray machine. The day British authorities announced they had
foiled a plan to use liquid explosives, passengers had to get used to
packing liquids and gels in checked luggage. 

Yet security officials say some of the most significant changes have taken
place behind the baggage counters. The biggest post-Sept. 11 change is the
screening of all checked luggage, said Brian Jenkins, a terrorism and
homeland-security analyst for the Rand Institute and director of the
National Transit Security Center at San Jose State University's Mineta
Transportation Institute. 

Another big change, he said, is the federalization of the security agents
and operations under the Transportation Security Administration. Before the
terrorist attacks, airline companies oversaw security. The force was poorly
paid and badly trained, and it suffered high turnover. Tales of major
security breaches were common. That's changed with the creation of the
agency and its oversight of airport security, Jenkins said. 

"Now that we have a stable screening force, we can expand their
performance,'' he said. 

Other measures taken after the attacks -- locked and armored cockpit doors
and deployment of air marshals -- also serve as deterrents, Jenkins said.
And the terrorist attacks drove the development of new and improved
screening technology, Jenkins said, especially in the area of explosives
detection. Once that equipment is tested and deployed, it could create a
more efficient and effective screening process. 

"I feel pretty safe when I get on," said Bakersfield resident Herb Thompson,
who was at SFO on a recent layover after flying from Portland, Ore. "Behind
the scenes, I have no idea what goes on, but the process I go through, I
don't mind." 

However, some people, like Gigi Taylor, a 48-year-old chef from Millbrae,
are not convinced that the extra measures will deter a terrorist. 

"There's longer lines, and it seems more complicated with all the steps you
have to go through," she said. "But I don't know that I feel any safer. I
wonder how effective is it really? You see things get through security, and
people stopped and searched for ridiculous things. It's been five years --
they really should have it together." 

Security aboard transit systems is a different undertaking. About 32 million
people take mass transit each day, compared with 2 million on airlines.
Checkpoints are not practical in transit systems designed as fast and quick
alternatives to car travel, many experts say. 

"Waiting an hour to take a 15-minute subway ride is not going to work,"
Jenkins said. 

BART, like most subway and commuter rail systems, has deployed more police
officers, bomb-sniffing dogs and other employees in fluorescent vests to be
a visible presence in stations and on trains, especially when an elevated,
nationwide alert is declared. BART's restrooms at underground stations
remain closed to keep potential attackers from using the ventilation system
to launch a biochemical attack, and trash cans have been removed from
underground platforms to eliminate the potential hiding space for a bomb. 

Al Colquitt of Antioch, a construction worker in downtown San Francisco,
said he feels secure on BART. 

"I feel safe enough to fall asleep, which indicates a sense of comfort," he
said. 

Most BART workers have gone through security training programs and new
security cameras and alarms have been installed throughout the system,
particularly in sensitive areas such as the Transbay Tube. So far, four
security reviews have been conducted to identify BART's vulnerabilities. 

"There are a lot of other things we can't talk about," said BART spokesman
Linton Johnson. 

San Francisco Municipal Railway workers, and employees of many other Bay
Area transit agencies, have also undergone anti-terrorist training and some
Caltrain stations and yards have been equipped with security cameras. 

Rod Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute, said
many transit systems have installed high-tech security devices most
passengers can't see or don't know about, including networks of security
cameras that allow them to monitor trains, platforms and passengers. 

Many transit agencies have attempted to enlist the help -- or at least the
awareness -- of their passengers. BART uses an ad campaign urging riders to
be "bomb detectors" by reporting unattended packages or luggage and
suspicious behavior. 

Learning to live with the looming threat of terrorist attack may be the
biggest change in the past five years, Diridon said. 

"If there was a change, it's in the attitude of the American people," he
said. "Before 9/11, we were in a Teddy Roosevelt period of 'We're between
two oceans, no one can attack us,' but now we know otherwise. We can't
expect not to be hit again."

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