(NewsInsights.org) – Las Vegas, Nevada, remains best known for its gambling and nightlife, drawing millions of visitors each year. As one of the nation’s busiest airports, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chose Harry Reid International, which serves the city, as a testing ground for an innovative self-service screening technology called Innovation Checkpoint, according to a TSA press release.
TSA PreCheck subscribers will become some of the first to use the new system beginning in mid-March. The Homeland Security Department (DHS) asked its Science and Technology Directorate to collaborate with the TSA to develop an automated screening system.
A video monitor will provide travelers with detailed instructions for completing the screening at their own pace, allowing them to depart through automated exit doors to gather belongings upon finishing the screening process. TSA agents will monitor the stations remotely to provide assistance as needed and ensure that people follow all security protocols.
The screening technology that Innovation Checkpoint uses displays superior sensitivity to the manual systems agents currently use but sometimes alarms over items as small as hair clips. However, authorities hope to minimize agent interactions, allowing travelers to complete the security screening process in a nearly self-sufficient manner.
The TSA offers its PreCheck program to qualified “trusted” travelers who register in advance and obtain a “known traveler number” (KTN), which they use to book airline reservations. Enrollment in the program provides PreCheck travelers with expedited security screening, reducing congestion at security checkpoints and waiting times. While TSA officials are initially testing the automated system using PreCheck travelers, they hope positive results will lead to broader use in more airports to save time and ease workloads on TSA personnel.
David Pekoske, the TSA Administrator, said the agency would collect data from the Innovation Checkpoint in Las Vegas to obtain “valuable […] insights and explore opportunities to apply parts of the prototype to other airport security checkpoints.” He stressed that the TSA and DHS would carefully evaluate the information before announcing potential timelines for future deployments of the prototype.
As passenger numbers continue to increase at Harry Reid International in Las Vegas, around the nation, and worldwide, automated screening technology and other innovative solutions could help the TSA and DHS provide future airport design concepts to improve safety, convenience, and comfort.
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