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The federal government has announced a plan to make air travel more convenient and secure.
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt was at Pearson Airport outlining the details earlier today. But the plan may only help a select few.
It’s a time many dread, waiting at customs after a long flight. That is unless you are a trusted traveler like Steven Lewis who has a Nexus card: “Coming back into the country and coming from overseas to the U.S. Man it’s like 10 seconds, that’s it, you’re done.
And it’s about to get better. Wednesday, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced a streamlined process for members of the armed forces, uniformed employees of the airport and Nexus card holders. The process includes new faster Nexus kiosks, dedicated Nexus security lines and faster security screening.
Lisa Raitt: Transport Minister: “You don’t have to take off your belt, you don’t have to take off your shoes, you don’t have to take off your coat.”
To become a Nexus card holder you must pay 50 dollars and submit to a background check which includes being finger printed. Some may consider that invasive, and approval is not guaranteed, but Steve Lewis says it was a breeze.
Steve Lewis: “So as long as you don’t have a shady past, you’re good.”
Since 2011, the number of card holders has gone from 600,000 to 1.1 million. But each year, Pearson airport sees 39 million passengers, keeping the vast majority of people in line.
So with applications for Nexus nearly tripling in the last couple of years and membership actually doubling since 2011, the questions is: Will this kiosk and these new lanes push more people towards Nexus?
“Makes no difference for me, I don’t travel that much.”
“I’m probably not what you would consider a frequent traveler, I travel probably 2, 3 times a year so wasn’t a high priority for me.”
Raitt says that even though the vast majority do not have a Nexus card, this will speed up wait times by removing low risk travelers from the screening process. With the lines and kiosks working right now, the big test will come this Friday, the busiest travel day of the year when Pearson expects 120 thousand passengers through their doors.
