Color-coded lanes to start at Logan tomorrow
Again, it's like "I told you so." Remember last month I told you about the new system TSA was trying out in Denver and Salt Lake City? (Think hard. I'll try to speak more slowly.) The deal was that they were trying to speed security lines at the airports with color-coded lanes.
Well, Ann Davis of the TSA tells me that they are gonna try the system out here, starting tomorrow at Logan Airport's Terminal A.
How does it work? Think skiing. Green circle for beginners (families or those needing special assistance), blue squares for intermediates (a casual traveler, perhaps, but one who's been around the block a couple of times -- although never without multiple carry-ons), and black diamonds for experts (Special Forces in Gray Flannel camo with limited carry-ons and the rules of engagement for liquids, gels, laptops, and footwear tattooed on the insides of eyelids).
Basically, you decide which lane is for you, and in theory it makes the process more efficient and less stressful.
Earl Morris of TSA told me last month that the system had worked well in Denver and Salt Lake City. Me, I had/have doubts because, let's face it, here in Boston if you set up lanes and let people choose, everyone will head for the breakdown lane and try to beat the system.
I guess we'll just have to see.
I wonder if the "social power of the crowd" will prevail. If you go to a line that is ranked higher than your demonstrated ability, will the crowd have the unspoken right to demean you?
As a Black Diamond for nearly 12 years, I have been BEGGING for this kind of system. I realize that many will see a shorter line and just get into it, but in Boston we're direct enough to re-direct these beginners and intermediates to the correct lane. It still won't work in every instance, but is better than the current system (even if you have platinum or first class status and get in that line, during peak hours, TSA directs others into that line and you might as well just have two running lines.
"(Think hard. I'll try to speak more slowly.) " Wow. Picking up quickly on the Globe snark, eh?
While I commend the TSA for trying to speed up the security lines, I suspect this will end up being another non-starter when all is said and done. Forgetting Bostonian's tendency to head for the breakdown lane and bypass the traffic, all it will take is one person in the wrong lane to totally gum up the works.
Unless they put decent signage (something the TSA does not seem to have been able to do for the most part) and plenty of people helping direct the confused many to the correct line, this will end up just creating more havoc then it solves.
Wow - Can't wait for the arguments that are going to ensue in the black diamond lane. Hope the TSA officers posted there will be empowered to pluck those that can't read or follow instructions out of one line and over to another.
I'd settle for the TSA simply adding more capacity for the morning rush at Terminal A. It's a complete mess with the flights leaving around the 7-8am window and no matter how early you get there it seems like the TSA adjusts it's staffing to have one less station open to foil your efforts. Of course by mid-morning the place is a ghost town so they can bring their average wait time down and claim things are fine.
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