TSA Kicks Off Shoe Scanner Program

Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM

Many air travelers are now being screened by a new machine aimed at letting them keep their shoes on through airport security.

Although the scanners are still working through some kinks, about half of the travelers using Orlando International Airport's first-in-the-nation ShoeScanner did not have to remove their shoes when passing through airport security.

Up to 1,500 of Orlando's 47,000 daily departing passengers will use the ShoeScanners, a product of GE Security, Bradenton, Fla.

The systems are intended to boost the Registered Traveler program, which promises fast trips through airport security for people who voluntarily pay about $100 a year and pass a background check. The program, which has operated only in Orlando, started recently at New York's Kennedy International, and at airports in Indianapolis, Cincinnati and San Jose, Calif.

Operated by Verified Identity Pass Inc., a New York-based company headed by Court TV founder Steven Brill, the GE Security screening kiosks — which include the ShoeScanner — have received Transportation Security Administration approval.

While some might see the new system as first-class treatment for a paying few, analysts say the model will drive future advances in screening technology as those willing to pay for convenience spur development of machines that will eventually be used by all, The Associated Press reports.

“The kiosks are going to fundamentally change aviation security,” says Matthew Farr, senior Homeland security analyst for research firm Frost and Sullivan. “Up to now, you've been relying on the government. The government has been extremely slow to adapt to the next generation of security technology.”

There are several obstacles standing in the way of widespread deployment. “It's going to be a long time because the technology is expensive and it's immature,” Tom LaTourrette, a physical scientist with the RAND Corp., tells The AP. “The shoes aren't that big a part of (the screening process).”

Unisys Corp. and EDS Corp., competitors of Verified Identity Pass, have participated in pilot projects at several other airports. All three companies are vying for business after the TSA transferred to the private sector the administration of its Registered Traveler program. Registered Traveler was authorized by Congress five years ago to give frequent travelers a more predictable, quicker screening experience.

Verified hopes to expand the Orlando program to 20 airports by the end of the year. With the TSA's recent approval of the shoe-scanner developed in a cross-licensing agreement between GE Security and Australia-based QRSciences, Verified hopes many additional travelers will sign up at the $100 yearly fee.

Simon Bedford, QRScience's vice president of business development, tells The AP that the shoe-scanner applies old technology — quadrupole resonance — that was used in the Vietnam War to detect land mines.

The shoe-scanner uses AM radio waves to resonate the molecules inside shoes, creating a frequency that is unique to particular types of molecules. The device then compares the frequency to those of a range of substances, deciding if the traveler is just wearing shoes or something that could be an explosive.

Citing security reasons, GE Security and QRSciences will not talk specifically about how the technology stacks up against the standard procedure of removing shoes and placing them on the X-ray machine. They point to TSA approval as validation.

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