Fast Pass
As reported by the Seattle Times, Seattle-Tacoma Airport has decided not to apply for the government’s Registered Travel Program.
The TSA’s Registered Traveler Program is set to provide expedited security screening for passengers who volunteer biometric and biographic information and successfully complete a security-threat assessment. The information is collected by private organizations licensed by the TSA, and the registration can cost as much as $100.
Some business travellers may feel this is worth it to eliminate security lines and rush through security. But despite all this information on a passenger, we question how this information will be used to make us all safer.
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[...] Meanwhile, Verified Identity Pass and British Airways have announced that they will be launching a Registered Traveller Program at Terminal 7 at JFK this fall. As we reported the other day, Registered Traveller Programs allow travellers to submit data about themselves as well as a registration fee and get expedited through security. Elsewhere, a pilot program at San Francisco Airport will be using RFID tags to track luggage. Asiana Airlines and Korean Air will be testing a system to sort and track bags using Radio Frequency ID tags embedded in the tags airlines attach to checked luggage. Currently, baggage handling is done by barcode. Barcodes are read to sort bags by airline and flight. With a bar code scanner requiring a clear view of the barcode in order to scan it, less than 85% of bags are read correctly. With a RFID system, no view of the tag is required, and thus the accuracy rate can soar above 90%. The two carriers will test the system on flights between San Francisco and Incheon, with both airports sharing data to review accuracy. With a standard in place for these RFID tags, and field tests to improve the system, the program could be expanded. [...]
[...] We reported in a post last month, on a Registered Travel Program. USAToday reported yesterday that the TSA has reversed its plan to charge $100 a year per passenger to use the Registered security lines. Their portion will now be only $30. Travellers would have to pay $80 or more to the companies that enroll them, produce the identity cards, and manage the lines. That would put the cost at $110. If the TSA requires a criminal background check in addition to the terrorism assessment, that would rise by $20. [...]