With the goal of making the airport a safe and pleasant environment for travelers and employees, the Port is integrating advanced technologies throughout its renovation and expansion plans — and security is a good example.

As one of the first major U.S. airports to completely revamp its employee access control system since Sept. 11, Sea-Tac will likely serve as a model for the transportation industry.

While the Transportation Security Administration has not yet formalized a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, the Port did not hesitate to implement the latest in biometric reader and smart card technologies for employee access control.

“We feel that biometrics is the way to go. The possible configurations of the system are limitless. When the TWIC program is finalized and mandated, we will already have the necessary capabilities in place,” said Arif Ghouse, security manager at Sea-Tac. The new system requires multiple forms of identification, including smart cards, PIN codes and fingerprint scans. When entering a secured area, a device compares the image on an employee’s smart card to the fingerprint placed on the reader, and signals the Johnson Controls Cardkey P2000 security management system to permit access if the match is successful.

Ghouse says that communication was a big factor in avoiding any confusion or potential concerns among employees. The airport was proactive about explaining why the upgrades were necessary as well as how the new system and transition process would work. It was also made clear that the personal data being collected, such as the fingerprint scans, would remain private and be used only for access control purposes.

With nearly 18,000 employees who must move efficiently through various sections of the airport, the upgrade and installation project was a major undertaking. Efforts to re-badge every employee began in October of 2003 and are wrapping up this summer. Thanks to a well-communicated, very organized process, the time spent enrolling fingerprints, transferring data, and printing and testing new badges usually took less than 15 minutes total per person.

In addition to upgrading the access control equipment, other security systems being upgraded include closed-circuit television (CCTV), intercom, data network, and digital video recording (DVR) systems. All of this equipment is integrated through the P2000 security management system.

The combination of upgrades and integration enhances security, performance and efficiency. For example, the integrated intercom system enables Port officials to send intercom requests to multiple areas simultaneously instead of to just one area, which was the case with the old system.

Not only does the P2000 enable a comprehensive security solution with single-seat operation, it is also able to interface with the airport’s master database. Because these two systems can communicate, there was no need to duplicate the employee database for security purposes.

“Heading into an installation of this size and magnitude, we were prepared to experience problems. The old and new security systems will run concurrently for awhile, but the new system is working beautifully and the transition is going smoothly. The level of security is not compromised at any time,” Ghouse said.

Now in the second phase of the project, Johnson Controls is retrofitting the existing airport. “In the new terminal, we had the luxury of working all day without passengers or many other obstacles. Moving to the existing airport means switching to night shifts, but we’re expecting the second phase to go as well as the first,” said Richard Chestolowski, senior project manager with Johnson Controls.