The Transportation Security Authority (TSA) announced five locations for testing the biometric piece of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. TSA announced that Watermark Cruises in Annapolis, Md., and the ports of Los Angeles; Long Beach, Calif.; New York and New Jersey; and Brownsville, Texas, will begin using card readers to evaluate the operational impact of the biometric verification system. The tests will start at the end of this year or early 2008. They will also test readers in a lab setting against benchmarks and using full-system operational testing at ports. Also, TSA issued working technical specifications for TWIC card reader hardware and applications in September, including user identification, password and contactless biometric capabilities and the requirement that it take no more than 3 seconds per person.

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