On a typical day, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials screen 27,000 people at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) each day. TSA has installed automated screening lanes (ASLs) with computed tomography (CT) scanners at the airport checkpoints to enhance security efficiency and reduce traveller wait time.
“We are always looking to incorporate innovative technology throughout the terminal to improve the passenger experience while improving upon our security posture,” said Christopher Murgia, TSA’s Federal Security Director for Maryland. “The new screening lanes offer enhanced security as well as an expedited screening experience.”
The CT scanners provide a clear 3-D image of the contents of a traveller’s carry-on bag. Using a touch-screen monitor, TSA officers can rotate the image to get a more complete view of what is inside each bag. In doing so, TSA officers are able to better identify items inside a bag, which results in fewer bags needing to be pulled aside and opened. The 3-D images also enable TSA to better and more quickly identify any threat items that might be contained in carry-on bags.
The ASLs include several new features designed to improve the screening process for travellers going through the security checkpoint including:
• Four divesting countertops per lane designed specifically to enable up to four passengers to place their items in bins simultaneously
• Automated and powered conveyor rollers that move bins into the X-ray machine tunnel and then feed the bins back to the front of the security checkpoint
• Automatic diversion of any carry-on bag that may contain a prohibited item to a secure conveyor belt, which allows other bins containing other travellers’ belongings to continue through the screening process uninterrupted
• Bins that are 25% larger than a typical bin and are able to hold a carry-on suitcase
• Unique Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags on each bin, which provides additional accountability of a traveller’s carry-on property as they move throughout the security screening process
• Cameras that capture digital images of the contents of each bin and are linked side-by-side to the X-ray image of a carry-on bag’s contents to easily match a bag to its X-ray image.
TSA continues to expand the number of automated screening lanes in use at airports across the country. To date, the agency has overseen installation of 205 automated screening lanes in security checkpoints at airports nationwide.
