I'm with Transitguy. Michael Chertoff does not exactly instill me with confidence in his ability to know what's going on "out in the field", or in this case out on the rails. And some of the security tactics we've ended up with on our nation's transit systems in response to Homeland Security hype are, well, less than efficient.
In Chicago: Bomb sniffing dogs led around by $8-an-hour security guards on the 'L', and the systemwide replacement of trash cans with ugly, see-through garbage bags hung from station pillars.
In New York: random bag checks on the subway, which, in order to avoid, potential backpack bombers need simply turn, walk away, and re-enter the system at a different station without a parcel-search table.
In cities across the country (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington come particularly to mind): The harassment, in many instances completely withouth legal or other regulatory justification, of railfans and tourists seeking to take souvenir snapshots of local rail systems.
I'll admit, I love all the security cameras that have recently been installed throughout the rail system here in Chicago. That's one element of Big Brother-ish security I have no beef with. Cameras at least guard against petty criminal activity, which no number of bomb-sniffing dogs will ever be able to accomplish.
But you can't live life in a padded room, and misguided "security measures" like the above strike me as more useful in assuaging people's fears than actually keeping the average transit rider safe from terrorist activity. There's an enormous gap between what are perceived as effective security measures and what actually are effective security measures. Originally from New York City as I am, I would strongly like to have the latter.
I'm reminded of the concrete security bollards that were installed, in the wake of the Oklahoma City and World Trade Center bombings, around thousands of office and government buildings across the country, to protect against car bombs. Sure, they made people feel safer.
But how effective were they against airplanes?
Secretary Michael Chertoff