How to Stay Safe in a Transit Attack

July 12, 2006 — -- In the United States, 11 million Americans use the subway to get to work or school every day.

So the terrifying images of Tuesday's coordinated bombing attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed 183 people and wounded more than 700 have many mass transit commuters asking, "How safe are our trains?"

At the Jersey City, N.J., commuter train station, the Department of Homeland Security is launching a test passenger screening program.

The screening program was already in development, but the India attacks made it more urgent.

Other U.S. subway systems have also been placed on alert.

In New York City, more police officers are riding the rails and searching passengers' bags.

There had been an extra police presence since last week's revelation that a terrorist plot against New York-area trains and tunnels had been foiled.

In Houston, extra officers patrolled the trains; Atlanta already had them in place. San Francisco and Seattle raised their alert levels. Most cities say the steps they took after the London bombings last year were still in place.

New Jersey transit officials are testing seven different devices to see which technology is best at spotting bombs and potential suicide bombers.

One looks -- and works -- very much like an airport screener.

It screens a person's body as he walks through, creating a kind of chart of the layers of clothing he is wearing.

Security workers will see this on a screen, and hopefully detect whether someone has a bomb or a suspicious lump under his clothing.

Another device, which looks like a circular phone booth, is then used for a closer look.

If something looks suspicious, a person would be told to enter this booth.

It revolves around him, creating an even more detailed image of the person's layers of clothing and any other items he may be wearing.

Again, security workers will look for lumps, belts, anything that could be a bomb.

The testing devices are part of a $10 million project funded by Congress that is aimed at helping the Department of Homeland Security implement the best possible rail security system.

The goal for now is to simply collect data. Security officials want to see how the systems perform, and they will pass the results along to Congress and the machines' manufacturers.