As TWIC is implemented in more ports, hurdles emerge

and for random checks, hand-held readers be used at the gates to the Port Authority’s terminals. For one, he says fixed readers at gates make for awkward entry. People in cars sometimes have to get out of their vehicles or back up just to get a ticket from an automated dispenser just for entry into a parking garage, he says. With a truck, Merkle says, long mirrors on the outside of the cab prevent the driver from getting close enough to a reader to submit a fingerprint. Moreover, truckers often have dirty hands, which may make it difficult to read the fingerprints, he says. Even though using hand-held readers might mean having several or more police officers manning them at the gate during high threat conditions and for random checks, it still might be more cost effective than using fixed readers, Merkle says.

The Port Authority frequently does modeling and simulation of its gate activity, measuring it in the seconds due to the amount of traffic entering and exiting its three cargo terminals in the Hampton Roads area. In the case of its Norfolk International Terminals, where the gates are near the main road outside the facility, any backups can quickly spillover, affecting commercial and commuting interests, Merkle says. The Port Authority has an understanding of the spillover affect due to the simulations it runs. This is true at most terminals around the country, Merkle says. “You can quickly spillover into causing other collateral damage within the interior of the city you’re adjacent too.” If DHS decides to use fixed readers at entry gates, that would likely require increasing the number of gates in order to mitigate the spillover affect on the nearby community, Merkle says. Expanding infrastructure can be expensive, he says.

The Port Authority has experience with going from a standard flash pass system to use of electronic gates at its Portsmouth Marine Terminal. There, a trucker still flashes a badge but readers and cameras are used to make sure that the badge is still valid and that the driver of the truck is the same person holding the badge. To maintain the same traffic flow at Portsmouth, however, the gate infrastructure was expanded from two lanes to seven. If a fingerprint read would be required, depending on the rejection rates, even more lanes might need to be added, Merkle says. Merkle believes the best place to use