Seasoned travelers are pretty familiar with TSA PreCheck, the service that expedites your security experience. Now PreCheck is leveling up with this new initiative designed to make it even faster and more efficient. To help address the rise in passenger numbers without requiring tons of new TSA workers, the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) created the Screening at Speed Program – a passenger self-screening service that allows PreCheck passengers to complete the screening with almost no assistance from human agents.
Photo: David Tran Photo/Shutterstock
PreCheck Members Can Soon Breeze Through TSA Security Lines at Self-Service Screening in Las Vegas
The goal of the program is to keep both travelers and TSA agents sager by limiting person-to-person contact, and allowing travelers to proceed at their own pace.
“Like self-ordering kiosks at fast food and sit-down restaurants, self-service screening allows passengers in the Trusted Traveler Program to complete the security screening process on their own,” said Screening at Speed Program Manager Dr. John Fortune. “Travelers will use passenger and carry-on screening systems at individual consoles or screening lanes themselves, reducing the number of pat downs and bag inspections TSOs need to perform and freeing their time to be reallocated to the busier aspects of screening operations.”
And you won’t have to wait too long to use it, either. The first prototype will be available at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas in January. TSA agents have already been trained in the system, and how to help travelers navigate and troubleshoot the process. In the future, expect to see self-screening pods pop up in airports all across the country. It’s a win for travelers who value efficiency and expediency, and certainly a win for TSA, as it’ll make their PreCheck program even more attractive. 