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The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

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Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#221

Post by bogomipz »

SEATAC in Seattle and the Port Authority in New and New Jersey have threatened to privatize TSA duties as well. The question is can they? What's to stop them? Why is it taking so long?

How was this agency not looking at actually travel data that they failed to hire more staff as the number of air travelers increased? This was over a two year period. The idiot in charge of the TSA said they anticipated more people would sign up for TSA prescreen. At some point in the last two years they couldn't see that this trend wasn't transpiring?

This same idiot said they he was asking congress for more money for overtime for TSA employees. Great, make the same miserable people work even longer hours. That sounds like a great solution.

He also made a statement to the effect that their "mandate is to keep America safe' yet he seems to not grasp that if we can't get on the plane it doesn't much matter.

They also seem to blame part of the increased wait on the tragedy in Belgium but do you mean to tell me that not one person in this agency could see that the departure halls's were a huge a blind spot?

I imagine that lawmakers in Washington don't have to wait in the long lines like the rest of us? That's generally how the broken stuff in the US stays broken b/c lawmakers aren't exposed to it. This is true of healthcare as well. Congress has indemnity health plans which is why they have no idea how bad it is for the rest of us.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#222

Post by rdtsc »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #131
cloudjacker wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I arrive at the airport in a Lyft. I walk up to the security checkpoint checkpoint, where I show the agent my phone. They see my boarding pass with the green checkmark and send me to the empty TSA Pre line. I walk through the metal detector with no adjustments to my attire. I am at the gate in 5 minutes. I like how trains basically let you show up last minute, and a 3 hour train ride actually means a 3 hour train rid…

>I arrive at the airport in a Lyft. That costs money. Many people take the train or a shuttle or lean on a friend. >I walk up to the security checkpoint checkpoint, where I show the agent my phone. They see my boarding pass with the green checkmark and send me to the empty TSA Pre line. I walk through the metal detector with no adjustments to my attire. You paid for that TSA PreCheck privilege which, while not in the…

> I don't do PreCheck because buying your rights is not something we should be able or have to do.

The standard answer is that airplane travel, just as being able to drive on public roads is not a right. Founding fathers apparently failed in their inability to predict we'd be able to amazingly fly through the air one day. So it is not in the Constitution. Therefore please step right into the Rapeyscan machine if you want to make it to your job interview, or to see your family across country.

It seems to claim a right to travel unimpeded you'd have to walk, on public land, or ride a horse or bicycle. Basically what you might have done 200 years ago.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#223

Post by tzs »

owie829 wrote: post #216
tzs wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I like how trains basically let you show up last minute, and a 3 hour train ride actually means a 3 hour train ride, compared to airport, checkpoints and boarding time, possibly waiting on the runway, and air time. Trains have their delays, too, such as long waits on passing sidings to clear the way for freight trains. Much of Amtrak's routes (72% by mileage) are on freight company owned rails that Amtrak pays for…

Amtrak gets priority when it is on time. The problem is that Amtrak is never on time. Don't blame the freight companies for that.

I've seen a couple sites say that Amtrak has priority only when on time, and others that say it doesn't matter whether or not they are on time. None of the former that I've seen have provided a cite for the on time claim, though.

49 USC 24308 (c) says:

"Preference Over Freight Transportation. - Except in an emergency, intercity and commuter rail passenger transportation provided by or for Amtrak has preference over freight transportation in using a rail line, junction, or crossing unless the Board orders otherwise under this subsection. A rail carrier affected by this subsection may apply to the Board for relief. If the Board, after an opportunity for a hearing under section 553 of title 5, decides that preference for intercity and commuter rail passenger transportation materially will lessen the quality of freight transportation provided to shippers, the Board shall establish the rights of the carrier and Amtrak on reasonable terms."

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#224

Post by rdtsc »

bogomipz wrote: post #221

SEATAC in Seattle and the Port Authority in New and New Jersey have threatened to privatize TSA duties as well. The question is can they? What's to stop them? Why is it taking so long? How was this agency not looking at actually travel data that they failed to hire more staff as the number of air travelers increased? This was over a two year period. The idiot in charge of the TSA said they anticipated more people wou…

I think recently the lines go longer and the efficiency went down on purpose, to show proof that they need more funding.

"Media: Look the line is 2 hours long at the airports"

"TSA: That's right, we are so very overworked, we need more funding".

"Uncle Sam: here is more money for TSA"

"TSA: Thanks"

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#225

Post by dreamcompiler »

cloudjacker wrote: post #79
two2two wrote: post #29

TSA is the number one reason why I don't fly and drive instead. From my POV most of the world's industries have progressed positively, but not air travel. I took a train a couple of years ago and it was a beautiful example of old merging with new. Walking through an antique of a train station, iPhone in hand, with my digital ticket ready to board; so easy and pleasant. At that point I realized that air travel is by f…

I arrive at the airport in a Lyft. I walk up to the security checkpoint checkpoint, where I show the agent my phone. They see my boarding pass with the green checkmark and send me to the empty TSA Pre line. I walk through the metal detector with no adjustments to my attire. I am at the gate in 5 minutes. I like how trains basically let you show up last minute, and a 3 hour train ride actually means a 3 hour train rid…

TSA Pre is not what it used to be. It used to offer two advantages: Less-invasive screening, and mostly frequent fliers in the line. Over the past year or so, the second advantage has evaporated in many large airports I've traveled through. The airlines seem to be handing out Pre chits like candy now, and the Pre line is full of little kids, baby strollers, and people who have never been on an airplane before. It still saves time, just not as much as in the early days.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#226

Post by marssaxman »

capote wrote: post #35
ndirish1842 wrote: post #7

I wonder how autonomous driving will affect shorter flight commutes. I'll probably never take a car from Philadelphia to LA, but I might prefer to travel by car from Philadelphia to Chicago if I know that I can sleep throughout the car ride (as well as leave whenever is most convenient). When you take into account driving to the airport, checking bags, security, flight delays, baggage claim, and rental cars/driving t…

I wonder why so many people immediately jump to thinking about a car as an alternative to short distance air travel. Would people in the US never even consider a fast train system as a good option between Philadelphia and Chicago? (If it were built, of course. But self-driving cars need to be built too. But I guess they're easier; I'm just dreaming)

It's easier to imagine that engineers might someday come up with a practical robot chauffeur than to imagine that US federal politics will ever un-bork itself to the extent that reintroducing usable passenger train service might become possible. It's just that much of a mess.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#227

Post by pw »

pc86 wrote: post #93
tptacek wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Private jet travel is probably _not_ within reach for the average SV developer.

I know the poster specifically mentioned a jet but GA in general is absolutely within reach. With a license it costs maybe $150/hr to fly a Cessna 172 (and you're usually only billed for time the engine's actually running).

GA is also a great way to get yourself killed. Whereas modern passenger air travel is the safest form of travel known to man.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#228

Post by bennettfeely »

lftl wrote: post #160
mikeash wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the idea of an "at your own risk" option, but it'll never happen. Since 9/11, a large part of the purpose of airport security is to protect uninvolved people on the ground (or at least in tall buildings), not just passengers. We can certainly debate whether that's necessary or useful (I'd argue that we could do far less than we currently do), but I don't think you'll ever get the public to agree to allowing ai…

a large part of the purpose of airport security is to protect uninvolved people on the ground This was solved when they locked the cockpit doors. Every other airport security restriction has been an overreaction in my opinion.

There are also airplane bombings, weapon and drug smuggling, human trafficking.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#229

Post by lisper »

jrjarrett wrote: post #214
lisper wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you could just walk onto a plane with a gun, people would do it again. No, they wouldn't. In the 70's the unwritten rule was: you hijack the plane, land it, make your demands, get your TV time, and then you surrender (or get away) but no one gets hurt. It is only because of that unwritten rule that you could get away with it because everyone assumed that the best route to survival was to cooperate with the hijac…

...except in Brussels. They did it there.

Terrorists hijacked an airplane in Brussels? That's news to me. What I heard was that they blew up the waiting area at the airport, which any terrorist could easily do any time anywhere in the world. The fact that this is still such a rare occurrence is further evidence that ordinary run-of-the-mill terrorism [1] is not the serious problem it is being made out to be.

[1] Terrorists getting their hands on a nuke is a different matter.

Re: The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them

#230

Post by sushid »

kyleblarson wrote: post #174
cloudjacker wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I arrive at the airport in a Lyft. I walk up to the security checkpoint checkpoint, where I show the agent my phone. They see my boarding pass with the green checkmark and send me to the empty TSA Pre line. I walk through the metal detector with no adjustments to my attire. I am at the gate in 5 minutes. I like how trains basically let you show up last minute, and a 3 hour train ride actually means a 3 hour train rid…

The easiest way for the government to acquire biometrics on every citizen is to make non pre-check so painful that people willingly go the pre-check route. What's next? Don't want to wait 5 hours at the DMV for a license? Just let us inject this little tracking chip in your neck.

For naturalized citizens, this is a non-issue as they've had to undergo this process already, FWIW.
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