Mandatory Bomb Checks for All PATH Passengers

A commuter descends to the World Trade Center PATH train station platform to Hoboken May 14, 2007 in New York City. Bomb-detecting scanners will be set up in PATH stations between June 10, 2009 and July 10. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—Beginning Wednesday, all PATH train commuters will be checked for explosives through the use of a new high tech scanner. The checks are part of a pilot program for passive millimeter wave passenger screening technology.

The pilot program is expected to last until July 10, and is not in response to a a specific threat.

The system works by scanning passengers as they walk by and sending information to a small screen. It will not slow down or inconvenience people using the PATH, according to a public information officer from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Dispelling concerns over the technology that can detect bombs through people’s clothes, Transportation Security Administration Spokesperson Lara Uselding said that the system is completely passive.

“It does not show any bodily features,” she said. “It shows the same images seen by the naked eye.”

The technology does not emit radiation and does not carry any health risks for passengers. Uselding said this is because the system does not send out any energy. Instead, it detects and analyzes electro-magnetic waves that are emitted by certain devices.

According to Uselding, the purpose of the test is to “detect IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and characteristics of potential hidden explosives.”

Anyone who enters a path station will be subject to a security screening. Any passenger who does not want to be screened will have to exit the station, according to the Port Authority.