DHS will deploy transportation ID cards

Staff -- Logistics Management, 4/4/2006

WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security has announced a timetable for issuing tamper-resistant, biometric-based identification cards to millions of workers at United States transportation facilities.

The Transportation Security Administration plans to request proposals for the program in early May, according to a statement issued Thursday on the FedBizOpps.gov Web site.

The program, known as TWIC (transportation worker identification credential), will issue cards with fingerprints and iris scans so that transportation facilities can verify the identity of workers and help prevent unauthorized access to secure areas.

The program was started after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 but, to date, only a prototype card has been given to some airport and seaport workers in California, Delaware, Florida, and Pennsylvania.

Under an amendment to the House Homeland Security Committee, TSA would have to issue final regulations for TWIC by this June, and begin issuing cards no later than June 2007.