18 November 2004

Testing begins on U.S. transport ID card

The following article is excerpted from the 17 November 2004 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security [has] launched a seven-month test of a single identification card for transportation workers across the country.

Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security, unveiled the prototype Transportation Worker Identity Credential at Long Beach Container Terminal …. The pilot program is expected to attract 2,000 to 3,000 truck drivers, longshoremen and other workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and other transportation facilities in Southern California.

… Eventually, the Transportation Security Administration plans testing at 34 locations in California, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Florida.

Hutchinson said TSA will test various types of technology with the goal of developing a tamper-proof card that positively identifies the holder based on information gathered in background checks and stored on file at the designated facilities.

If the testing is successful, it will set a single standard for identifying an estimated 5 million transportation industry workers at seaports, airports, chemical plants and other protected facilities across the U.S. At present, truck drivers and other workers that call at multiple facilities may have to hold a dozen or more cards to gain access to all of the sites.

Although the federal government will issue the card, each facility will determine the criteria for allowing access to its site. For example, the card may allow a truck driver access to all of the 13 container terminals in LA -Long Beach, but not to chemical plants in the region.

Participation in the prototype program is voluntary, but TSA anticipates more than 200,000 transportation industry workers will take part in the test.

The prototype card will test three forms of identification -- an iris scan, fingerprints and hand geometry….

Longshore unions have questioned the use of background checks, which are essential to the program, on the grounds that some workers with criminal backgrounds but who have made restitution will still be rejected.

Hutchinson said TSA officials have met with the longshore unions and will continue to do so to assure them that the program is designed to prevent only terrorists from gaining access to transportation facilities. It is not designed to punish workers whose past offenses have nothing to do with terrorism.

Congress earlier approved a two-year grant to fund the prototype. A permanent program most likely be fee-based, Hutchinson said.