Greyhound security checks
 

I go by bus from greyhound portauthority nyc to atlantic city regularly. For certain busses they perform a "security check" of the pax(they have the people on line come over to they security table.) This is an inane operation: (1) since busses leave almost every half hour (sometimes even 15 minutes), one could wait for the next bus, after the security people have moved on; (2) most of the time, they tell you to leave your bag in your place on line, all they do is wand the passenger, never checking the bag (which could contain all sorts of stuff:D)

Why do they do this? It's simple! The Kabuki show makes the sheeple feel safer...

"See there sweetie, we are safe. Those nice people are working hard to protect us. The keep all the "bad" people from getting on the bus." :rolleyes:

:D

Well thank goodness for them!
We haven't had a terrorist attack on one of those busses since they started screening!

Maybe they should put up a sign reminding terrorists to place their weapons in their baggage only, rather than on their person. That would expedite the screening process.

Doesn't New Jersey Transit do trips down from the PA to AC too?

" BOSTON (WBZ) ― If you're riding the T Thursday you may want to allow yourself a little extra time.

The MBTA and the federal Transportation Security Administration are randomly checking passenger bags for possible explosives at several stops.

It is a drill to test MBTA Transit Police and the TSA if the terror threat level is raised.

It's currently at code Yellow, which means it's elevated."

It seems to be widespread and a drill.

Hmm..., a widespread drill related to the Kool Aid color. Did something political happen this week, from which attention needs to be diverted ?

@:-)

I thought they were carding dogs.

:rolleyes:

You are confusing this with forcing penguins through the WTMD.

More on the drill:

MBTA, TSA Check Bags For Explosives

I wonder if you can joke about bombs on the greyhound? Airport is settled territory.. is the pall of seriousness about to descend across all public life?

ugh...

in case I'm arrested next week (or sporadically during the month of may) for refusing a bag check on the T, will any FT'ers post bail for me? ;)

What are these TSA guys self-medicating with?:confused:
More to the point, what would be the point of a terrorist take over of a frigging BUS? Couldn't afford a plane ticket? Thought it might be less obvious than carjacking for a ride to the airport? Claustrophobia?
Did Kip tell his think tank their jobs were on the line if they didn't stir the pot soon.?

Come on now, didn't you see "Speed"? Where do you think these morons get their "security" ideas from? And don't forget, they learned from "24" that torture is a highly effective method for getting accurate info from a suspect.

Same answer to this and your question about trains: to BLOW IT UP along with everyone in it. Madrid, London, Israel. Any of those ring a bell ?

It hasn't happened in the US simply because there do not appear to be any terrorists IN the US. Yet. And unless there are similar checks done at each and every subway and train station and every bus depot, these PR exercises are nothing more than that.

Plus, we seem perfectly capable of having all kinds of train wrecks, without terrorist intervention... :rolleyes:

So much for all those glib TSA replies on the blog about "if you don't like the screening, you can always take the bus!"

(Yeah, and I'm still looking for the LAX-SYD bus, too.) :confused:

"If you don't like the screening, you can swim!"

I've actually gotten that at FLL flying to SJU

The Greyhound people in NYC are idiots and just plain cruel. They make a huge show at the gate about looking at your ID, staring at your face, looking at the ID again, yelling at you for detaching your ticket from the receipt (the kinds that spit out of the machine like an accordion stack), yelling at you for being surly, and puffing out their chests. I have no idea what purpose staring at your ID serves, but they do seem to believe in it.

Some would argue that the entire US government right now is a huge train wreck.

Going to atlantic city, i've never had my id checked. I always detach my ticket--it speeds up the line...

Even if they did a check at every subway, train station or bus depot a terrorist would just blow up the check point instead of the subway or bus. With the long lines at check points it would have the same result as blowing up a subway or bus. These checks are just nonsense.

You totally forgot about Die Hard 3, where they mixed a couple of liquids to create an explosion. If you're going to be revealing SSI, why not cover it all?

Mike

It has been on a collision course with itself for quite a while...

I would argue that unless the government completely limits access to the ENTIRE transportation infrastructure, all of these checks are easily circumvented:

• Air-based Vehicle Systems - enterprising terrorist gets his/her hands on a man-portable ground-air missile system, stations himself/herself somewhere in the approach/destination paths of a local airport and shoots down any aircraft in range (admittedly far-fetched, but not completely out of the realm of possibility)
• Track-based Vehicle Systems - enterprising terrorist gets his/her hands on simple explosives, or self-manufactures an IED, placing it anywhere along the very easily accessible train lines and either randomly explodes the device near any train or awaits a HazMat cargo and detonates the device
• Road-based Vehicle Systems - enterprising terrorist gets his/her hands on simple explosives, or self-manufactures an IED, placing it anywhere along the very easily accessible roadways, bridges, and/or tunnels and either randomly explodes the device near any vehicle or awaits a HazMat cargo and detonates the device

Quote:
Originally Posted by IslandBased View Post
More to the point, what would be the point of a terrorist take over of a frigging BUS?
Ari posted: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Avi...s_405_massacre

Yes, it has happened in other countries. In a small nation it would have a more severe impact, in the media and within the population.:(
My comment was directed to the current ID checking situation in the US. There have been serious bus accidents here and fatalities, none caused by terrorists.

At least we can now be assured that no bus accidents will be caused by people without ID!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most of those attacks carried out on commuter type buses? Those are the ones where people enter and exit at every stop on a given route, totally different from the Greyhound tour bus.

It would be extremely difficult to screen everyone boarding and you'd have some pissed off commuters to boot. Can you imagine showing an ID and being screened just to ride the bus to work???

Maybe we could ask big brother to install TSA screeners on every bus, seeing how they are doing such a fine job in our airports. Yeah, the terrorist will really hate us when they see that. Doh! :rolleyes: :td:

Just a public relations stunt at Greyhound
 

No need for correction. You are absolutely correct. Those suicide attacks on buses in Israel and the ones in London, England and Madrid, Spain were all done on regular commuter lines.

If one is willing to carry out such fanaticism he can board a bus or train at any station. In New York City alone we have a dizzying amount of both bus and subway lines. Impossible to secure them all. The spectacle at the Greyhound bus terminal in NYC is just a public relations stunt to calm the nerves of people who lack common sense.