--- begin forwarded text Delivered-To: rah@shipwright.com Delivered-To: clips@philodox.com Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 14:26:35 -0400 To: Philodox Clips List <clips@philodox.com> From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah@shipwright.com> Subject: [Clips] A Longer Wait For Faster Lines Reply-To: rah@philodox.com Sender: clips-bounces@philodox.com <http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB115048587097082633.html> The Wall Street Journal June 17, 2006 THE WEEK AHEAD Air Security A Longer Wait For Faster Lines By LAURA MECKLER June 17, 2006; Page A2 The idea was simple. But putting it into practice has been tough. On Tuesday, the original target date will come -- and pass -- for the national launch of the "Registered Traveler" program, which is meant to create special, speedier airport-security lines for people willing to pay an annual fee and undergo background checks. Yet so far, the program is operational at just one airport -- Orlando International in Florida -- where it was pilot-tested. In April, the federal Transportation Security Administration said that the deadline would slip and that it hoped to roll the program out at 10 to 20 airports in the second half of the year. If looking for a terrorist in an airport of innocents is like hunting a needle in a haystack, Registered Traveler is intended to make the stack smaller. Prescreened travelers would be diverted to a speedy line, where they would show an identification card with biometric data embedded to prove they are who they say they are. Business travelers love the idea, as do many members of Congress. A handful of companies have expressed interest in contracts to run the special lines, seeing an opportunity to market tie-ins to credit cards, hotel chains, travel Web sites and other airport concessionaires. Some have talked of setting up special lounges for members. Yet now, like so many TSA programs, this one is behind schedule. The TSA has yet to announce any additional airports and hasn't published the information about privacy protections required before people can sign up. Most crucially, it hasn't approved new technology to make the program work. Companies interested in the program worry that fewer people are likely to sign up if all they get is their own line at airport security. They think the program has to offer something else, like not forcing passengers to take off their shoes and jackets and remove laptops from their cases. The TSA has said it will lift those rules only if lines are equipped with technology aimed at improving screening, such as a new machine that can scan shoes while they are still on a passenger's feet and analyze the touch of a finger for explosive residue. But the TSA hasn't certified those machines, so they can't be used in airports. So, many travelers are stuck clamoring for the speedier lines, particularly those who will be able to expense the fee to their employers. In Orlando, where more than 25,000 people have signed up, the fee is $79.95 a year, which covers all airports that add the lines. Among airports, which sometimes share in the profits, some are enthusiastic about the program. Though airlines, which don't want to make flying any more expensive than it already is, are decidedly not. Hawking the program aggressively is Steven Brill, onetime journalist and founder of Court TV. Mr. Brill is founder and chief executive of Verified Identity Pass Inc., an identity-card maker that is working to sign up airports, and he still thinks the program could be up and running in more airports this summer. "I'm always optimistic," he says. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' _______________________________________________ Clips mailing list Clips@philodox.com http://www.philodox.com/mailman/listinfo/clips --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'