Ever since 9/11, Americans have known that they are vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

And since that horrible day, we have come to accept extra scrutiny when we travel, especially when we fly. Long security lines, shoe removal and even full-body scanning have become ordinary hassles of flying, as annoying and accepted as leg cramps and pressure-caused earaches.

Another thing that has become part of the landscape are the color-coded threat warnings, which were supposed to remind travelers about the heightened danger they faced. Signs warning that the threat level had reached “orange” were supposed to keep passengers on their toes, but ended up fading into the background.

With the threat level always stuck at “orange” it lost meaning, and passengers long ago stopped using any extra caution. After your concern has been heightened, then what?

The federal government now says that the colors are gone and they will be replaced with a system officials say will provide more information about the threats. We hope that this time that means getting real information that we can use and not a generalized national nervousness index.

Under the new system, there will be two threat levels, “elevated” and “imminent.” The alerts will be “based on specific, credible information about potential terrorist activity” and will include “as many details as we can provide in an unclassified form,” said Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security.

The question still remains, however: What does the government want us to do with the information? If the threat is really “imminent,” which according to Webster’s means “likely to happen without delay,” why would they let people travel at all?

The reality is that there is very little travelers can do to protect themselves when they are flying. They can keep an eye out for unattended baggage, buy shampoo and toothpaste in small enough containers to carry on a flight and remember to wear their loafers, but short of a specific threat that would cause them not to fly, all the terror warnings do is heighten anxiety. That is until they become so common they lose their impact altogether.

When it comes to evaluating how much danger we really face, the more specific the information, the better for the public. Managing the terror threat has been part of our lives for nearly a decade now, and we all have to look for ways to do it better.