=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2005/12/01/MNGHFG12B8= 1.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, December 1, 2005 (SF Chronicle) A faster way through airport checkpoints/San Jose would give some passenger= s priority -- for $80 Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer Officials at San Jose's airport say air travelers weary of standing in long lines at security checkpoints soon will be able to buy their way into a high-tech express lane as part of the federal government's efforts to speed up screening at the nation's airports. The cost is likely to be about $80 a year per passenger -- the amount charged in a test program at Orlando International Airport -- and applicants would be required to submit 10 fingerprints and photographs of both eyes and pass a federal "security-threat assessment." The payoff: spending a mere 14 seconds at an identification-checking kio= sk instead of as long as 29 minutes in line. The Transportation Security Administration recently announced plans to establish a nationwide "registered traveler" program by June but has released no details. On Wednesday, Mineta San Jose International Airport stepped to the front of the line, announcing that it was ready to launch the program within a month of approval by the security administration. "For San Jose, our business traveler community is a big part of our passenger base," said Marina Renneke, a San Jose airport spokeswoman. "We visited Orlando and saw the benefit and thought we can't pass up the opportunity to do this here, to be one of the first airports in the country to offer this." Travelers who pay for the new service will still have to walk through metal detectors, remove their shoes and put their belongings through X-ray machines. But instead of waiting in a long line to get there, they'll enter a dedicated lane, go to a machine that looks like an ATM, insert their registered traveler card, place a fingertip on a scanner and stare into an iris reader. Then, they'll proceed immediately to the checkpoint. Some Bay Area air travelers said they would eagerly hand over $80 for the right to breeze through security checkpoints, especially if they would be exempted from random secondary testing, as is the case in Orlando. "In a heartbeat," said Bob Cullinan of San Rafael. "Why? I take quite a few international trips for business, and it never fails. Every time I'm late or in a hurry, I get pulled out of the line and given the once-over. If I could avoid that, it would be well-worth the 80 bucks." But others said it could invade their privacy or objected to the cost and the notion of allowing people to buy their way out of waiting. "I really think it's ridiculous that it has come to the point where we have to pay money in order to get quickly through the airport," said Paulette Greenhouse of Newark. "It shouldn't have to be this way." Other travelers said they hoped the service would become available at mo= re airports. San Francisco International Airport, the Bay Area's largest, has been discussing the program but doesn't have a plan, said spokesman Mike McCarron. Oakland International Airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes referred questions to the security administration. Eventually, special technology could be used in the express lanes that would exempt registered travelers from having to remove their shoes or turn on their laptop computers, said Cindy Rosenthal, a spokeswoman for Verified ID, the company contracting with airports in San Jose and Orlando. About 12,000 travelers have signed up for the program in Orlando, which = is the first in the nation run by a private company. In addition to San Jose, Verified is in negotiations with Sacramento International Airport and has bid on a contract with Indianapolis' airport. The program is part of a Transportation Security Administration effort to make airport screening more efficient. The Washington Post reported this week that the agency would lift its ban on small scissors and other sharp objects, which reportedly are found in one of every four bags and removed. At SFO, General Electric Homeland Protection is preparing to open a security laboratory in the international terminal to test new screening devices, including some that could allow travelers to get through security without taking off their shoes. A TSA official called San Jose's announcement hasty, saying the agency w= as working out details for how the program would work. "I hate to characterize it as (San Jose) airport jumped the gun, because we're committed to doing all we can to enhance the passenger experience," said Nico Melendez, an agency spokesman. "But we want to make sure we roll this out the right way and include all of the airports that want to be included. How it will be rolled out and how many airports will be included has not been determined yet. But that's not to say San Jose won't be one of them." The San Jose airport's announcement says that Verified ID, the company operating the Orlando test project, will begin enrolling passengers within 30 days of approval by TSA and will open the express lanes within 90 days. Melendez said the agency expected to have a plan ready for the national program by the end of January "and to be screening the first registered traveler by June." Steven Brill, a journalist and entrepreneur who is chief executive offic= er of Verified ID, said his company had spent two years selling airports on its technology and the registered traveler program. E-mail Michael Cabanatuan at mcabanatuan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --------------= -------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2005 SF Chronicle