Sitting Ducks?

I walk to work.

Not me. It's still so much safer than driving a car. I wish that resources would be better spent though than having cops loafing about in the stations because of London. That money could be better spent on cameras, or even on the system itself which (at least in new york) needs it. And how exactly are those cops going to stop a terrorist with a bomb in a small bag? They don't wear signs announcing themselves.

Yeah, I feel the same in Paris. Security has been hiked, niveau rouge du plan vigipirate, but really, there's a pattern in these attacks, so we're not likely to see another one straight away, and police searching the TGV is not going to have much of an effect, should someone decide to commit suicide. But I understand the public has to be reassured.

Funny you should mention that. The day before the London bombing I was travelling from Brooklyn to Manhattan and when the train stopped for whatever reason on the bridge I was wondering how difficult would it be to have people that wanted to blow the train/bridge up during rush hour. There but for the grace of G-d go we.

I live in Tokyo, and the station I get off at is the Prime Minister's residence....There are several uniformed policemen here and there, but it is quite an...easy target. Today, they removed all of the garbage receptacles, so I suppose I should feel much better.

It always gets very pleasant when they remove city garbage cans. When I took the plane a few days ago, security let me go with a Swiss army knife in my handbag (I had forgotten it was there, realized it only once I got to the hotel).

I think the heightened vigilance and security measures make it unlikely that terrorists will target a mass transit system again in the near future.  Kind of like going to a restaurant that has recently reopened after being shut down for health code violations.

i think that's a good point. it's just a shame that it takes a tragedy to create an environment of heightened awareness, though. it reminds me of the story of the NY subways in the '80's, as told by Malcolm Gladwell. his take on it was, the environment itself encouraged the rampant crime and the brazenness of the criminals. once the police went on a program of cracking down on all minor offenses (i.e. gate jumpers, etc.) and keeping the grafitti off the cars, the 'serious' crime (muggings, rape, etc.) went down because the environment showed a level of care that discouraged wrongdoing. (the story is in 'the tipping point'.) /andrew

My father was a track technician for the MTA (NYC Transit Authority) for 30 years. He can tell stories about the crime and rats that are quite entertaining (well, the rat stories anyway). Some quick highlights: Apparently the pretty big sized rats you see while waiting on the platform are runts. There are immense, colossal rodents deep in the dark tunnels. He said in the summer they would rest their bellies on the cool rails and let their legs dangle. Apparently these rats have no fear of men. One large rat apparently stole the sandwich out of a bag of a co-worker as they were eating during a work break. I have since corroborated this story with several MTA retirees. Overall, I would have to say the new york subway system, as described as it existed in the 1980s sounds nothing short of hell on earth. murders, rapes, arson, acid thrown from moving subway cars, people pushed in front of trains, these are the work stories I heard from my father growing up. Anyway, I'll end my nostalgic subway trip down memory lane with this: as a retiree, my father has lifetime free access to the NYC transportation. Needless to say, he hasn't been taken a train or bus in NYC since the day he retired. And he refuses to believe that it may have gotten any better in the last 15 years. I won't even go into my commute from the east side to Fordham Road in the bronx on the 6 to the 4 to the D train for 2 years in high school. Anyone ever see "The Warriors"? :-)

Its not like removing ALL the garbage receptacles in that station is hard, what are there like...five of them?

(clink clink clink clink clink clink clink) Waaaaarrriooooorrrssss.... come out to plaAAAAaaaaYYYY...

sorry guys, you can't stop terror by protecting the target, you need to go after the terrorist.

Too bad nobody is interested in that anymore eh Globetrotter?