LAT: San Jose Airport to Offer Fast-Track System

San Jose Airport to Offer Fast-Track System

The Clear program would enable fliers paying a $79.95 annual fee to avoid some security checks.
By Eric Malnic
Times Staff Writer

December 1, 2005

For $79.95, you can avoid an airport bottleneck.

Or at least get through it a little faster.

San Jose's international airport announced Wednesday that it will become the second airfield in the country to offer passengers the opportunity to avoid some security checks by paying an additional fee and undergoing background checks.

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To qualify for the fast-track "registered traveler" service, a passenger would have to complete an online application, provide fingerprints and images of their irises, and pass a TSA-supervised background check.

The program, called Clear, has been in operation since July at Orlando International Airport in Florida, where more than 10,000 travelers have signed up. Marketing, recruiting travelers and verifying identities are being handled by Verified Identity Pass Inc., which has won the contracts in Orlando and San Jose.

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The American Civil Liberties Union has warned that terrorists could use false background information to sign up for the program, then use the fast-track lane to avoid detection. And Tom Ridge, the former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told a Business Travel News reporter last summer that "there is no guarantee" that such a security breach wouldn't happen.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-airport1dec01,1,7478053.story