Denver International Airport, new, faster safety lanes

The best glimpse of the terminal's future at Denver International Airport is not behind the walls of the construction but in two new safety lanes unveiled Friday for travelers.

Those who have visited airports in Europe and other parts of the world will find the basic design familiar, but for others, the main changes brought about by normal DIA channels have a low learning curve.

In about two years, when DIA will open new security checkpoints at the top level, officials plan to make the new configuration the standard for the 34 planned lanes. This change will come late in a large-scale renovation project that began this summer.

In the demonstration corridors, which will continue to operate in the meantime, passengers are unloading their cabin business in bins larger than usual, ready to be used in individual stations. This allows each person to move at their own speed before pushing the trash on the conveyor and continue without waiting for delays in front of them.

On the other side of the x-ray machine, bins carrying bags and objects spotted by agents are automatically diverted, which prevents the process from erasing the pickup area.

"These lanes will improve and improve safety, increase efficiency and create a less stressful environment for our passengers," said airport CEO Kim Day.

That's the promise of setup, anyway.

Just after the opening of the new tracks, some of the first guinea pigs seemed a little uncertain as to their functioning. Dereck Loero of Fort Collins, who said he had used a similar screening path in Amsterdam, pointed to one or two shortcomings.

He added that adding benches right behind the pickup area would allow people to move away from the belt where they could put their shoes back. This led some to linger and the empty bins were backed up, forcing the officers to step in despite the assurances of the officials that the last step would proceed more easily.

"The technology is great, but in the end … if they had a better flow, it would be easier for the workers," said Loero, 30, who flew to Los Angeles.

But Amanda Erwin, 46, was a fan on her first try, even though she was put out for a try.

"It's good, it's actually pretty sweet," said Erwin, who was traveling from Castle Rock to New York. "I like it (the unloading area) is in the round. And it's a little less … well, they shouted less, "she says laughing about the agents.

The bins are about 25% larger than those used on other DIA tracks. At the end of the line, empty bins are placed in a lower conveyor which returns them to each individual unloading station.

Passengers whose objects are flagged for hand control now meet their trash and an agent at stations at the end of the line. When the agent sets the tray, it triggers the display of the X-ray image on a screen for easy review.

The Transportation Security Administration has authorized 12 to 15 US airports to test "automated control lanes" using the new configuration, at the expense of airports. Larry Nau, TSA's federal safety director for Colorado, said about 140 ASLs are now approved for national use.

DIA says it has invested approximately $ 4 million in the installation of the two new lanes, including approximately $ 2.5 million for new equipment manufactured by Scarabee Aviation Group. The lanes were horned between the existing lanes of the northern part of the terminal floor, adding new capacity.