The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is continually looking for ways to make its experience better for passengers. They’re well aware that no one likes to go through the stressors of the security checkpoint at every commercial airport in the country. That’s why they’ve developed things to make things easier and faster:
- A way to decrease pat downs
- How to (hopefully) stop getting SSSS on your boarding pass
- The ability to make reservations for TSA screening at select airports
- Not having to show your boarding pass at select airports
And, of course the introduction of TSA PreCheck, as well as CLEAR, has vastly decreased queue waits for travelers who have been vetted has helped decrease waits tremendously.
But then you get to wondering what the next thing or things will be on the TSA’s agenda. It’s not very difficult to find out – you just have to know where to look.
The System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is an official website of the U.S. Government. It’s free to use and one of the things it allows you to do is register to do business with the U.S. Government.
However they also use it as a way to search for particular information to help them in the future. In this recent case, the TSA is looking for entities who/that are proficient in on-person screening and identity management capabilities:
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Requirements and Capabilities Analysis (RCA), Capabilities Management and Innovation Division (CM&I) is conducting market research to better understand what current and/or future technologies are available to provide enhanced solutions for On-Person Screening (OPS) and Identity Management screening systems at the checkpoint. This Request for Information (RFI) will cover two (2) topics for input from industry.
This RFI is issued solely for market research, information, and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or any commitment or intent to issue an RFP or Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). The RFI does not commit the TSA to contract for any supply or service. The TSA is not currently seeking proposals. Responders are advised that the TSA will not pay any costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to the RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP or BAA.
In other words, TSA is planning to conduct market research to get a better idea of what technologies are available to provide enhanced solutions for on-person screening (OPS) and identity management screening systems at security checkpoints (they’re specifically looking for automated tools that will improve TSA’s advanced imaging technology (AIT) and walk-through metal detector (WTMD) systems, as well as its credential authentication technology (CAT) systems).
TSA says that current AIT and WTMD systems have several shortcomings:
- People have to take their coats off as part of the screening
- They have to empty their pockets
- They have to go through patdowns if they trigger an alarm
The first two slow down the line. The third one is something passengers find uncomfortable. So they’re all things TSA would like to change, if possible.
The agency is looking into the next generation of OPS solutions, which will focus on moving passengers through the checkpoint faster, having better threat detection capabilities, reducing contact between passengers and TSA officers, standardizing the image TSAOs see, and enabling operational connectivity through secure data transmission.
Looking at the longer term, the TSA is also looking at the possibility of automating the technology for physical and digital ID scanning (read: not using TSAOs at the checkpoints, so they can be used for other tasks).
Ideally, an AutoCAT would take a live photo of a passenger so it could compare it with their ID. Once verified to the ID and flight information, an e-gate would open and allow the traveler to proceed to the next step of screening. That way one TSAO would be able to staff multiple security gates at the same time, instead of 1 TSAO per security gate.
So that’s apparently what they’re looking at for the future.
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