The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is now offering the use of “blended lanes” at Trenton-Mercer Airport and Atlantic City International Airport. Blended lanes provide TSA PreCheck screening to confirmed TSA PreCheck individuals and their accessible property at smaller airports where passenger volume is too low for dedicated TSA PreCheck lanes.
By using traditional screening lanes to screen both TSA Check travelers, blended lanes increase the number of locations where TSA PreCheck enrollees can receive full benefits of the program.
Passengers who are enrolled in TSA PreCheck don’t need to do anything new to participate. When a TSA PreCheck member arrives at Trenton-Mercer or Atlantic City airports, their carry-on items will be placed between two blocks to separate their property from that of other passengers to indicate that the contents of those carry-on bags are permitted to contain electronics and small liquids. In addition, those passengers will not need to remove shoes, belts, or light outerwear jackets, no matter what time of day or checkpoint they pass through.
TSA initiated the blended lanes program because the TSA Modernization Act requires TSA to limit the use of TSA PreCheck lanes to individuals with known traveler numbers. As such, the likelihood of non-enrolled passengers receiving TSA PreCheck on their boarding pass has significantly decreased.
Travelers have already been seeing this initiative in action at several dozen small airports, with additional airports planned.