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Metro tests new passenger screening system at Union Station
Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Metro hold a two-day pilot program of new body scanner at Union Station in Los Angeles Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Passengers boarding subway trains in Los Angeles may soon be shuffled through airport-style body scanners that are aimed to detect firearms and explosives. Officials say the machines can scan about 600 people per hour. (AP Photo/Mike Balsamo)
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Metro is testing a new passenger screening system Wednesday morning at Union Station. Passengers can see it near the Alameda Street entrance to the Red Line from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Passengers can volunteer to go through it, but no one is required.
The system scans riders for firearms, explosives and other threats. It also includes a facial recognition component. Dave Sotero with Metro says one of the system's advantages is its portability.
"You can move the system and set it up within a half hour and place it within areas where threat levels are increased," he said. "And it enables us to randomize screenings."
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The L.A. transit authority has no immediate plans to install such a system at any of its rail or bus depots.
Next week, Metro will test another screening system with the TSA.
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