Since the day Metro announced that it would start randomly searching bags throughout the 86-station and 12,000-bus stop system late last year, the transit agency has received plenty of criticism — including from the Metro Riders’ Advisory Council this week — that the measure would amount to little more than security theater.

One glaring loophole in Metro’s proposed searches — beyond the fact that only a dozen or so police officers are dedicated to performing them — is that anyone who objects to the search can simply exit the station and enter the system through another one. A terrorist who chooses to get on in Vienna on the very day that passengers there are being searched, faces a mighty long walk to the next station — but that isn’t the case if you’re in the city, and even less so with the development of multi-modal transit options which the District has experienced in recent years.

Let’s visualize, shall we? Let’s say you’re intent on sneaking some explosives on to Metro. You enter the Farragut North station, but encounter police searching passengers. No dice. But Farragut West is a block south. On the off-chance that there are cops there too, travel two blocks east and you’re at McPherson Square. Or, wander a few blocks north and you’ve arrived at Dupont Circle.