T riders to face searches during convention
Subway and commuter rail riders will face more random searches as part of Democratic National Convention security measures, and will be discouraged from bringing backpacks and briefcases on board public trains. Is this necessary? Will you comply?
in today's globe: T riders face more random checks
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Mumbles Menino ought to be run out of town. This entire fiasco is ill-planned and woefully underestimated in terms of impact to infrastructure, commuting, and event planning. What a bunch of amateurs! Boston is sure to be a total laughingstock when this is over. You won't see any roads shut down in New York for the Republican convention in August.
Richard, Southborough
I am amazed at how much whining is going on. It's at most a week-long inconvenience. Let's just chill and deal with it. No-one can claim to be surprised about the DNC coming to town, road closures etc. Bag checks - what's the big deal - leave all illegal stuff at home for a week!! If you fly you go through security and if your bags are checked you deal with it. Boston really does love complaining - if it's not the weather, the potholes, the government, the police, ad nauseum. Come on people, there are MANY more important issues - hunger in Massachusetts, the War in Iraq, unemployment, underemployment, lack of affordable health care, Halliburton, people dying because they refuse to wear seatbelts etc. etc. Where's the optimism and positive outlook? It takes too much energy to be negative! I miss the post 9/11 civility that people showed to each other but perhaps it was only because people were thankful they weren't a victim and they were scared. Try riding the T to Fenway on gamedays - for commuters and people going to the game it's no treat but amazingly we all seem to handle it. How about the B line that for several summers in a row has stopped above-ground trolleys so those riders have to take the T to Kenmore and then wait for a bus. Let's accept it - the commute home is going to be challenging - let's not get hysterical about this. Oh ... and enjoy this beautiful day :-)
Barbara, Brookline
No, this is not necessary, no I will not comply. It is unbelievable to me that the MBTA has adopted yet another measure to make the commute during the DNC an obstacle course. Coming from the North Shore via the commuter rail it is almost impossible to get to work as it is, and the idea of being stopped and searched if I choose to carry my bag to work, like I do everyday, is completely ridiculous. The MBTA has already seen to it that I will not be anywhere near North Station, I find it impossible to believe that I must be further inconvenienced by traveling to work empty handed in order to guarantee the safety of the convention. Their ideas seem to get more and more irrational as time goes by. I shudder to think what they will be 'unveiling' in the next few weeks. Will we have to travel to work barefoot to rule out shoe bombs? Let's face it, all we need is some idiot to hide any type of explosive device in his undies, and then we will all be subject to spot underwear checks. Where will it end?
Christine, Salem
I dont have a problem with these additional security measures. I think people need to realize that we will be inconvenienced for only one week out of the entire year. What is the problem.....as long as you dont have a bomb or C-4 strapped to your belt, what is your gripe for letting an MBTA search your bag? As an additional note, if this country wasn't run by the ACLU and so concerned with perceived slights against certain peoples, this security measure could be focused via the use of profiling. I mean, let's face it, it was 19 Arabs, Saudis, etc. who were flying planes into buildings on 9/11. What is the sense in searching an 83 year old caucasion grandmother??? C'mon people.......
Quint, Clinton
If you're not doing something wrong I don't see why this should be such a big deal. As long as the police aren't rude to people and try to get people through as quickly as possible so they aren't late for work or appointments - I appreciate the idea of extra security. I work in the financial district of Boston and even almost three years later (after 9/11) I still think about terrorism on a daily basis, which has been reinforced even more so the past few months since the T started the announcements regarding keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. I think about the man in Japan who boarded a train with gasoline and all those people who died there even more so than the incident in Spain. Anything that is done to try and keep us safer on a commute that we all must make in order to make a living should be a good thing if it is done with respect.
Terri, Malden
Come on people, really.....what's the big deal? So, they might ask to quickly look in your bag. Is it really going to cause you any more inconvenience than the T already causes? What do you carry in your bag that you are afraid of showing a police officer.....your lunch? How about your book....don't want to let them see you reading a book! If you are really angry, you should direct your anger at a more appropriate group...like the Mayor and his cronies.
TJ, Pembroke
I'm taking a cab or walking. The MBTA officials are turning the subway into the Moscow transit system of yesteryear, with their plan to institute permanent random searches. I won't be missing much. The Green Line is SHEER EMBARASSMENT the way it's run.
Ted
I will not comply with the discouragement to bring a backpack on board. If I have things that I need to bring into town, I'll bring them. If this means I hold up the crowd because I need to have my bag searched, so be it. The longer I can hold up the crowd, the more effective my action will be. In fact, I may just fill a bunch of socks with random items, so the Gestapo will get really mad. Without reasonable suspision or just cause, my expectation of privacy should not be revoked because a bunch of hoity-toity politicians are in town.
Shawn, Nashua
I took the easy way out. I got a new job that doesn't require me to deal with the "joys" of Boston anymore. Aaaahhhh, suburbia. Gotta love a 20 minute drive to work instead of a 60-minute drive/train/walk commute!
Patty, Andover
Unfortunately, this is necessary. Unfortunately this is being "sprung" on us with just a month's notice. Do the Democrats even understand that they're asking Boston residents to forgo work and income so they can hold a media event? Are they going to compensate us for the massive inconvenience? Do they care? I think with the attitude the DNC is showing Boston residents we should count on 4 more years of George W Bush. I'll ride my bike to get around... or am I going to be checked for ID and have my bike bag searched? I'm becoming very resentful that the Democrats are forcing us to endure so much inconvenience.
Drayton, Jamaica Plain
