WP has an article on the Clear Card program for frequent travelers. For an annual fee of $128 and after passing a background check, Clear Card holders will then be eligible for shorter and faster security lines at airports. Note though, that flyers will still have to pass through the requisite TSA security—the lines will just be faster.
See here and here for not-so-favorable reactions to this policy. I was shocked by the response to this as being “un-American.”
First, flying is a voluntary transaction between individuals and private airlines. There is no reason why someone should not expect to forfeit some of their rights when flying in an airplane. I suspect the current security measures are extreme and largely ineffective. But if you are at all uncomfortable with the intrusiveness or inconvenience of security, you are free to find other means of transportation.
Second, entirely privatizing the function of TSA would make flying cheaper, easier and likely safer. If you track the incompetence of TSA at all, it won’t take long for you to be convinced the private market would provide a much more efficient and effective degree of security. By associating a price with the security process, the Clear Card policy takes a teensy step in this direction.
An improvement on the policy would be to create tiers of security charged on per-flight basis. Budget travelers pay no fee and stand in the typical long lines. Those willing to pay for shorter lines could pony up a few bucks to save some time and inconvenience. Business traveler or those who are really in a hurry could pay an even higher premium. The price could even be adjusted based on peak travel times. This creates a very efficient system of price discrimination without sacrificing any security whatsoever. (Of course, a bureaucracy like TSA is very unlikely to implement such a policy with any success.)
I suspect most opponents of Clear Cards are just expressing a general revulsion to the use of the price mechanism in something like security. This common human bias very often leads to costly and wasteful outcomes. Why deny someone the ability to pay for (or sell) something that is of value to them?
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