But the TSA is not very effective to begin with. In tests, TSA screeners missed fake bombs 75 percent of the time in Los Angeles and 60 percent in Chicago, compared with a failure rate of 20 percent for private screeners in San Francisco, according to a leaked classified report.

Union demands may actually do more harm to railroad safety. The Obama administration is gutting Amtrak’s expert, highly rated counterterrorism unit. Why? Because it is non-unionized, and thus opposed by unionized Amtrak officers who had alarmingly low pass rates in basic counterterrorism classes.

Hans Bader

Arlington

Metro makes a bad situation worse

Re: “Blind man struck by train dies of injuries,” Dec. 31

I am not surprised about the blind man falling onto the Red Line tracks at Gallery Place. Using the Fort Totten collision in June as an excuse, WMATA implemented its long-standing desire to eliminate the need for operators to know how many cars are on the trains they drive. So Metro ordered all trains to stop at the far ends of the platforms even though this is contrary to the design features of various stations.

The absurdity of this decision is on full display at Gallery Place as rush hour riders going from their Red Line trains to the Yellow/Green Line or the arena exit try to push past riders going the opposite direction. There are too many people to fit on the narrow marginal platform. It was inevitable that somebody, especially the most vulnerable, would get squeezed out and fall onto the tracks.

Were Shady Grove trains to stop at the near end of the platform consistent with Gallery Place’s T-shaped design, as they did for decades until recently, this hazard would be limited.

I try to avoid transferring at Gallery Place during rush hour because the station is badly designed in the first place, with too little room on both the Red and Yellow/Green line platforms to begin with. But WMATA’s decision to stop at the far ends of the platforms greatly exacerbates an already bad situation.

Dino Drudi

Alexandria

Tiger’s failings pale compared with Bernie’s

Re: “McDonnell, Tiger highlight best and worst years,” Dec. 30

This article does not make clear exactly how Tiger Woods’ marital infidelities trump Bernie Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme — which wreaked havoc and pretty much destroyed the lives of numerous investors — for the dubious distinction of being the worst of 2009.

Craig Taylor

Alexandria