Agency will eliminate its security checks onmembers

The Transportation Security Administration, which has been charging travelers a $28 fee for background checks required to join the privately-operated Registered Traveler (RT) program, said last week it is getting out of that business. TSA said it has decided that “the current security threat assessment largely duplicates the watch-list matching that is conducted on all travelers every time they fly. The other parts of the security threat assessment are not core elements in determining threats to aviation security and will no longer be required, and the government is eliminating the $28 fee.” Since all travelers, including Registered Traveler program members, must have their names checked against the government’s terrorist watch lists, and must go through airport security screening, what good is the Registered Traveler program? TSA Administrator Kip Hawley said the program “holds promise as a biometrically enhanced, private sector identity verification program. RT works best when tailored to the individual needs of each location, as determined by the airports and airlines that sponsor these programs and their local Federal Security Directors.” TSA said that although it is withdrawing from its current role in the RT program, “participants…should not see any change in their benefits for the immediate future.” Biometric ID cards issued by any of the RT vendors will continue to be accepted by all vendors at any RT location for at least 12 months, the agency said. “After this 12-month period, service providers will be responsible for negotiating arrangements for the reciprocal use of one another’s cards,” TSA said. TSA has also lifted the previous limit of 20 airports where the RT program can operate, opening it up to expansion nationwide.