TSA tests airport check-in

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is testing a system that checks identification and boarding passes by machine rather than the standard visual check by officers. The tests began last week at Washington-Dulles International Airport and will start Tuesday at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and April 23 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The review will last several months, gauging such things as how fast passengers move through the line and how accurate the machines are. While TSA officers have been checking identification with black lights and magnifying glasses, the machines are geared to recognize all valid identification, from driver's licences to tribal IDs and US and foreign passports. TSA hopes the machines be more efficient at weeding out fraudulent documents and processing passengers. As demonstrated at Dulles, passengers step up to the TSA desk and scan the bar codes of their boarding passes.

The TSA officer scans the identification, which the machine authenticates and compares with the boarding pass. The machine doesn't store any personal information about the passenger, says Greg Soule, a TSA spokesman. A discrepancy can lead to more questions or checking the identification more closely. If a fraudulent document is found, the passenger is referred to law-enforcement officials for possible charges.