Metro started screening riders’ bags last week, and next week riders can have their say on the new policy.
The transit agency’s Riders’ Advisory Council is hosting a special public forum on Monday night “due to the great public concern” over the new randomized bag screenings.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Metro’s headquarters in downtown D.C.
When Metro proposed similar screenings two years ago, the RAC took action with a similar meeting and came out against the searches. Metro backed down, never conducting any of the searches.
Now, opposition is mounting again. The local branches of the American Civil Liberties Union are questioning the constitutionality of such searches.
The D.C. Bill of Rights Coalition and the Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition are also gathering signatures for an online petition, saying the searches attack riders’ civil liberties.
Metro officials have defended the policy, saying that riders who do not want to be searched can leave their bags behind — or leave the stations and bus stops being screened. Transit agencies in New York, New Jersey and Boston have done similar searches.
What do you think? Have you been pulled out for a screening?
