Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Here is an Indy Star story on security screening at the new terminal. It is supposed to be state of the art. Sounds like based on technology it will be the best in the nation. I am just concerned about the extreme invasion of privacy. Security has gotten extremely intrusive as it were. Many of the TSA agents have the personality of an old shoe. Now this? A greater invasion of privacy and uniform changes designed to give the appearance of more authority. With all this technology I hope they train the people to act like public servants and not like dictators. Nothing more enjoyable than being jerked around by some clown that looks like he hates his job.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/p....dll/article?AID=2008807210362

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

What's your take on the different height seating so people will sit next to each other? I thought that was funny.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Well, I think it's cool that IND will be one of the first places with the new security design. However, I don't think the automatic bin returners will work. Sounds like a system just ripe for major foulups, certainly designed and built for the Gubmint by the lowest bidder.

And honestly, the worst thing about TSA is that they tend to employ screeners with low levels of maturity and don't empower those screeners to use common sense. Last weekend, I witnessed another case where the TSA screener caused a 2-year old child to freak out. He insisted she take off her Barbie flip-flops - fine, whatever. But then he wouldn't let Mom or Dad walk through the metal detector until the little girl went first. The girl didn't understand, was clearly already scared, and the TSA guy didn't help matters at all. Why can't she walk through ahead of Mom holding her hand? Or why can't Mom walk through, then Dad let the little girl walk through to Mom, then Dad walk through himself? It caused this little girl to break down and scream and cry and she was clearly frightened of the whole thing, and it also caused the line to back up to 2x as long as it had been. Ridiculous behavior and a lack of any commonsense action on the part of TSA. That kind of thing is what has to change if people are to become comfortable with the screening process and TSA is to improve its credibility with the public. There are far too many TSA screeners who simply do not look, dress, or act professionally. Shirt tails out, hair/jewelry/makeup/facial hair looking like they just woke up/are in a punk band are very commonplace. And some customer-service training would help, too. Being polite and courteous - consistently so - will go a very long way toward improving the public's experience. But it all starts with hiring good people. Perhaps a GED shouldn't be the only requirement. And perhaps they can be paid better. Maybe even - gasp - they can get merit increases and bonuses based on their professionalism and courtesy to passengers.

And while I'm on this topic - with all this screening now going on, as sophisticated, high-tech, and supposedly thorough as it is, isn't it about time that people other than ticketed passengers can come through security again? It would be nice for one to be able to greet Grandma and Grandpa at the gate again. Or to be able to take your loved ones to the gate and watch their plane depart. Why shouldn't we be able to do this once again?

OK, I'll hop down off my soapbox now...

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

How about we can stop taking off our shoes? In Amsterdam they take a wand to your shoes. Plus if you go through that puffer it will be able to detect any bomb residue. Some of the TSA requirements are just petty. But the kid thing as you mention really shows a lack of common sense on the part of the screener. And yes I do hope they start letting non ticketed passengers through. It would have been a nightmare at the current terminal as they are really beyond capacity as it is. That place was never designed for 8 million passengers and it certainly wasn't designed for 8 million passengers with today's security measures.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Actually, I had to take my shoes off last time I was at AMS. Twice.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Bummer. I figured they were smart enough not to fall into that trap. Unless they did it under pressure from the U.S. I love the comedian that goes on about security and carry on beverages being prohibited. He asked "couldn't they have stuck a bomb inside a crying infant?" Anything under a certain size would have to be shipped FedEx lol. I think it was Jim Norton that said that.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

They also require you to go through these mini-interviews before boarding to come to the U.S., and then you have to get screened again. I think I wrote a post about this somewhere. It's a real pain in the arse.

Member

Joined: 21 Jun 2005
Posts: 28
Location: Indianapolis

I really love this higher level of thought put into how environments affect peopleâ??s behavior. When you go to an airport for the first time, you are immediately inundated in this unfamiliar space, put into sensory overload, with people crowded around you, tasks to complete that you are unsure of, and complex directions to follow. All of this makes the seemingly simple task of just finding your way difficult. You've watched the show Airline, and even seen it yourself in person; these normal people put into this situation and then proceed to act in a totally atypical way. They curse, they scream, they cry, they drink in excess to coup with the stress of this inhuman environment. The question is, how the design of the airport can eliminate or reduce these actions, how can the environment of the airport change the very way people behave. This terminal is certainly getting some things right. Even before you get there, on the road approaching the terminal, you are only presented with two options at a time (short term or long term parking, arrivals or departures.) The terminal itself is large, full of natural light, and airy (no dark, low, cramped corridors). Where it is large means public space, where it is lower (like the over the ticket islands) means more intimate conversation can be had, a place to talk and seek information. Wayfinding is simple, with having to make use of directional signs to a minimum, and when having to do so, only presented with two options (concourse A or B). I would like to see more green in the terminal, really big plants or trees, so the natural light can filter down through the leaves. There are colors to avoid, no reds (associated with danger and the cessation of movement) and shapes (no sharp angles, more curvilinear). The cooler colors are good (the green carpeting in the concourse) and the blue. Genser, the designer for the new Jet Blue terminal 5 at JFK, bathed the entire food court in blue for this reason, not just because of the corporate name. Even the idea of the height of the seats is not new. Genser studied modern dance, theater, movement on the streets of New York, and even the stoops of Manhattanâ??s famous brownstones. They gave thought to this, so in the food court, instead of the usual table with four chairs, they created wide risers, a bleacher sort of effect. So, when people are eating, they are also people watching, a totally New York theater experience, a kind of ongoing performance of people in front of them.