TSA Clears Registered Traveler Rollout As More Suppliers Emerge

Verified Identity Pass now has five Clear Registered Traveler checkpoints operating at airports in New York, San Jose, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, and last week said it will partner with Virgin Atlantic Airways to open a sixth at Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal B.

Meanwhile, Larry Zmuda, Unisys Federal Systems partner for homeland security and head of its Registered Traveler efforts, last week said Reno-Tahoe International Airport plans to launch a Registered Traveler program at its two security screening checkpoints in late February or early March, representing the first competitor of Verified Identity Pass to deploy a program.

Zmuda said an annual membership would range between $100 and $110. As airports finally start to launch, a promise in the making for more than a year, Zmuda said other large ones are expected to follow.

"You'll start to see more of the larger airports now come on board, given that TSA has finalized all the agreements that they need to finalize," he said. "I think the next airports are Atlanta and Denver—which will likely reissue their RFP that came out last year. Dulles is probably looking and Los Angeles and Miami. Washington, I think, is going to do something."

Additionally, the FLO Alliance of Saflink, Microsoft and Johnson Controls that offers Fast Lane Option—a competitor to Clear—last week said it gained Transportation Security Administration approval to run programs. FLO Alliance said the "certification is a necessary step toward gaining final TSA approval to operate an RT deployment."

The Clear program promises to speed travelers who satisfy a background check through security checkpoints and costs $99.95 annually. For months, several airports had been poised to roll out the program, awaiting TSA go-ahead. While airports in Cincinnati, Indianapolis and San Jose sponsor programs, British Airways and Air France are sponsoring programs at two separate terminals at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The new programs join the pilot at Orlando International Airport as the only operational Registered Traveler programs.

Verified Identity Pass and Virgin expect to begin enrollment for Newark in February with plans to launch in March. Verified Identity Pass founder and CEO Steven Brill said, "Agreements with several other airports and airlines are expected to be announced during the first quarter of 2007 and accelerate through the year."

A Clear spokesperson last week said all the checkpoints at the airports are "built exactly the same" and employ the use of shoe-scanners, which aim to keep shoes on travelers as they pass through security. The spokesperson said that about two-thirds of Clear users in Orlando have not needed to remove their shoes.

GE Security is supplying its Secure Registered Traveler Kiosks to enable travelers to pass through without removing shoes. "In Orlando, the SRT Kiosk's advanced shoe-scanning functionality has been approved by TSA and, in most cases, members who successfully complete the kiosk's shoe scanning no longer have to remove their shoes as they pass through security screening," GE said, noting that the technology is deployed at all the airports, but TSA must "approve their use and potential benefits on an airport-specific basis."

"There are a lot of issues still with the shoe scanner," Unisys' Zmuda said. "We have complete confidence in our biometric solution. Now we're waiting for a lot of these companies to work out the kinks and come out with the other security solutions, so TSA can certify a variety of technologies and not just one. That way they can come out with a qualified product list."

Meanwhile, screening systems that allow travelers to keep coats on are ready, but must first gain TSA approval, a Clear spokesperson said. The company also said it is in talks to allow laptops to pass through without being removed from luggage.