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April 21, 2008

Now at Hobby: Choose your own security lane!

We don't know about you, but Houstonist would do almost anything to get through airport security faster. It's not that we don't value the level of security we're getting — trust us, we'd much prefer taking our shoes off to being aboard an exploding aircraft — but we'll admit that we do get frustrated by other travelers who apparently haven't heard a word about the increased restrictions the rest of us have been dealing with for the last few years.

042108_security.jpgThat's why we're (theoretically) happy to hear about a new security setup that was unveiled at Hobby Airport today. The Self-Select Lane program, which the TSA launched in Salt Lake City earlier this year, divides people waiting to go through security into three lanes: green, for the elderly, families with small children and other people needing a little extra time; blue, for casual travelers who are a bit faster but still don't have the security process down pat; and the sportily named black diamond, which leads to a difficult ski trail lets frequent travelers get through the line as quickly as possible. As Earl Morris, the TSA federal security director in Salt Lake, said in February:

"We are enhancing security by creating a less stressful experience. This enables our officers to provide better support to the people who need it most, while others are able to navigate the checkpoint more expeditiously. Passengers will ultimately determine the success of the pilot."

That's what we're worried about — people have enough trouble deciding which lane to use at the grocery store, so we can only imagine how it'll work at the airport. (Seriously, it's apparently not that bad: A few weeks after the Self-Select program was put in place, Morris said things were better all around, with calmer security lines and shorter wait times for people who knew what they were doing.) As always, if you're planning to travel, we recommend checking out the TSA list of what you can and can't bring.

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Comments (5) [rss]

Who exactly isn't going to go for "Black Diamond"?

I guess I could see families traveling with kids taking their own line...

But how do you keep the uninitiated out of the black diamond?

 

My proposal: To enter the Black Diamond lane, you must solve this 5th grade-lever math problem. That would keep everyone out of that express line.

Or, the ski slope idea mentioned. Moguls in the airport!

 

It's kind of a catch-22 in my mind: If you leave people to their own devices, everyone will choose the fast lane and make it slower. So you put screeners there to speed things up by asking people, "Do you know what you're doing?" And ... slow again.

 

The solution: always take the blue line. The Green line will have those who -know- they'll be slow. And the black diamond will be packed with impatient assholes (and the occasional decent traveller).

The blue line will be short and smooth.

(Just the way I like my men.)

 

If the lines would go to different planes, I'd be really excited about this. But as it is, you may save a little time at the security line, but at the gate the airline is still gonna let the slow elderly people and the families with small children board the plane before you.

 
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