In response to the London bombings and emerging threats to public transportation facilities, GE Security and Cubic Corporation are collaborating to create a system that will test passengers for explosives as they pay their fares.
The events in London and the recent release of surveillance images have shown how hard it would be to identify possible terrorists without testing for explosives. The challenge, of course, has been the volume of passengers that ride mass transit systems each day -- and product manufacturers have had to answer that question of throughput with new designs.
The GE Security/Cubic Corporation will use GE's explosives detection systems and combine it with Cubic's popular fare collection systems. The system is likely to take advantage of GE's new finger-testing system which was showcased at ASIS 2005.
"World events have clearly dictated the urgent need for more and better use of technology to improve security and safety of public transit systems around the world," said Dennis Cooke, president, GE Security's Homeland Protection business, in a statement explaining the impetus for the collaboration.
The two companies have also announced that they are seeking authorities from public transit systems to become involved in the development of the system.
The initial design is being unveiled this week at the Public Transit Expo in Dallas.
