http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101104 dnmeteasytravel.18865.html D/FW wants to try Registered Traveler 09:52 PM CDT on Sunday, October 10, 2004=20 By MICHAEL GRABELL / The Dallas Morning News=20 HOUSTON - Michael David is perfectly calm as he arrives at the airport only 20 minutes before his flight to Dallas. He shrugs off security checks in 30 seconds.=20 Even Continental Airlines' Elite Access travelers look on jealously.=20 What makes Mr. David so privileged is that he's traded his fingerprints and scan of his iris for a program that works like a TollTag for air travelers.=20 Two months into a three-month test, the Registered Traveler program at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport has cut waiting times by more than 50 percent with apparently few errors, no major privacy complaints and no reports of false people or prohibited items getting through the checkpoint.=20 Officials at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport are pushing for government approval to bring the kiosks here, though the earliest D/FW could participate in the program would be mid-2005. The head of the Transportation Security Administration named Dallas Love Field as a potential test site before the program began.=20 Airlines and airports, government officials and industry experts say such a program is crucial to the future of air travel. If tests are successful, the government could expand it to all major airports within a few years.=20 But critics call it "smoke and mirrors" and say flaws will surface as time passes and the program expands.=20 The voluntary program would eventually divide the nation's 1.8 million daily travelers into known and unknown travelers. The known or registered travelers allow the government to run background checks and verify their identities with digital fingerprints and iris scans.=20 They still have to walk through metal detectors and put their bags through X-rays, but they're not subject to random bag searches, metal-detecting wands and pat-downs.=20 Quicker screening=20 "They're still being screened," TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said. "These people aren't given carte blanche to go into the secure side of the airport past the checkpoint."=20 The TSA, which manages security at the nation's 429 airports, is testing the Registered Traveler program at the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Los Angeles, Boston Logan and Ronald Reagan Washington airports as well as Bush Intercontinental in Houston.=20 But the program is not open to everyone. Each airport works with a different airline, which invited its most frequent fliers - those who travel at least twice a week - to sign up. About 2,000 travelers have enrolled at each airport, totaling about 10,000 participants, Ms. McCauley said.=20 The TSA ran their names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, driver's license numbers and Social Security numbers through terrorist watch lists and federal criminal databases of convictions and warrants.=20 Using 'smart card'=20 Their fingerprints and iris patterns - unique biometric information - were digitally recorded. In some airports such as Bush Intercontinental, the data is put on a "smart card" that travelers swipe at computer stations before placing their finger on a scanner. At others, the computer checks their fingerprints against a database of participants.=20 Lines are short because few people are enrolled and the participants know TSA rules and don't have a lot of questions.=20 On a recent weekday in Houston, Kent Hampton already had his belt around his neck and his shoes untied before he got to the Registered Traveler checkpoint.=20 "I'm glad to see them do that," he said. "It's not a lengthy process. I thought it would be a lot more complicated."=20 Waiting times at checkpoints have been cut to around two minutes, according to the TSA. Many registered travelers show up at the airport less than an hour before their scheduled departures.=20 "With the online check-in and this thing, you can just fly in, fly out," said Andy Rapp, who was traveling to Albuquerque.=20 Of the 3,252 times that registered travelers used the checkpoint as of Sept. 22, only five had been accidentally chosen for extra screening, said Alister Doig, a TSA contractor who works at the Houston checkpoint. None has been stopped with a prohibited item.=20 A complication in the otherwise smooth program arose in Houston recently when Continental Airlines wanted to use the line for its Elite Access members when registered travelers were waiting.=20 National program urged=20 Airline and airport trade groups want to see a single national program. Registered travelers now can use the system only at the airport where they enrolled.=20 "It's analogous to having a grocery discount card that can only be used at one particular store in one particular town," said Doug Wills, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, which represents the airlines.=20 Critics warn that Registered Traveler program will create a caste system of airline passengers: Screening will slow down for those who don't sign up. Security will be jeopardized because metal detectors don't test for explosives, screeners continue to miss knives and future terrorists could have clean backgrounds, they say.=20 ACLU criticizes system=20 The American Civil Liberties Union calls the system a "tracking device" but said last week that the organization has not received any complaints about it. In addition, some congressmen complain that the TSA has dragged its feet on implementing the program.=20 Aviation consultant Mike Boyd said the pilot program only appears successful because it is tightly controlled.=20 "How do we know how well it's worked?" said Mr. Boyd, who believes the government should overhaul the TSA. "A background check means nothing in the modern day of terrorism."=20 While the TSA has no cost estimates, a government report in 2002 noted that background checks could cost as much as $150 each.=20 D/FW looks at system=20 Mr. Dodson, the head of D/FW public safety, recently visited Houston with the airport's TSA director and said he was impressed with the system.=20 "We have asked them to extend it to D/FW Airport," Mr. Dodson said. "As to when that's going to occur, I really couldn't tell you, but we're aggressively pursuing it."=20 =20