Metro has begun random bag searches on Metrorail trains and Metrobuses to increase rider safety and privacy and minimize delays, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials announced Tuesday.
The program is not in response to any specific threat, but rather to increase safety before next week's presidential election, according to The Washington Post.
Fifteen officials so far have been trained to conduct searches, which can occur at any of the system's 86 stations and 12,000 bus stops, reported the Post.
The random inspection checkpoints, which focus on finding explosives, check passengers before entering stations.
The program is modeled after a similar program that began in New York three years ago, according to The Post.
-MAUREEN McCARTY
