New fast-pass system launched for SFO travelers

scanning_0181_df.jpg Passengers pass through the security checkpoint in the United Terminal at San Francisco International Airport on the day new scanning security techniques are announced. Photographed in Millbrae on 8/15/07. Deanne Fitzmaurice / The Chronicle less scanning_0181_df.jpg Passengers pass through the security checkpoint in the United Terminal at San Francisco International Airport on the day new scanning security techniques are announced. Photographed in ... more Photo: Deanne Fitzmaurice Photo: Deanne Fitzmaurice Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close New fast-pass system launched for SFO travelers 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

2007-08-15 15:39:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco International Airport is poised to open a new fast-pass program that will help registered passengers avoid lines at security checkpoints, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday during an unveiling at the airport.

The program, named Clear, will begin in the next few weeks, although enrollment at the airport began Tuesday. Clear has been operating at Mineta San Jose International Airport since January.

The program, offered by the company Verified Identity Pass, requires passengers who enroll to submit to an in-depth background check, provide hand or eye retina scans and pay a $99.95 annual fee. In return, registered passengers get an identity card containing their encrypted fingerprint or iris images that allows them access to a separate line through security checkpoints.

Passengers will still have to be checked by security screeners but will circumvent any line at the standard checkpoint, airport spokesman Michael McCarron said.

"Right now, our average wait time is from five to seven minutes," McCarron said. "For people who participate in the Clear program, it will be a lot less than that."

Clear's enrollment stations at SFO are located in domestic Terminals One and Three, and in the downtown Hyatt Regency. Clear will expand enrollment to the International Terminal in the fall.

Travelers can begin the enrollment process online at: www.flyclear.com