Registered-traveler cards let fliers speed through security lines but have been slow to catch on nationwide. Now, Barbara S. Peterson reports, the fast track may be coming to an airport near you

When I signed up for Clear, the private-sector "registered-traveler" card, a little over a year ago, I worried that I was throwing away the $128 fee. Clear's promise—to breeze you through security after you submit to one background check, iris scan, and fingerprinting—was certainly appealing, but I never seemed to transit an airport where the service was offered. Until, that is, I arrived at New York's JFK on a Saturday afternoon last August and realized that I might miss my flight to Moscow because of the mass of befuddled travelers ahead of me in the screening line. Luckily, I was at Terminal 1, one of the few at JFK where the card was accepted. I raced past the throng to an empty Clear lane off to the side, flashed my card, touched a screen to verify my biometric bona fides, and handed my belongings to a smiling "concierge." After apologizing for the inoperative shoe scanner that was to have spared me a stroll through the metal detector in my bare feet, she hoisted my carry-on gear into a bin and put it through the X-ray machine. Seconds later, a Clear employee on the other end was handing me back my purse, laptop, and shoes and wishing me a good trip.

As of June, some 175,000 U.S. travelers had signed up and been vetted for Clear, the largest of the private-sector registered-traveler programs, and several other companies were competing for contracts to offer their services at airports around the country. But that number is well short of the 500,000 people proponents of the program anticipated, and not remotely representative of the estimated 8 million fliers who take at least two trips a month and who are its target market. To date, just 20 U.S. airports have opened dedicated registered-traveler lanes, and some, such as New York's LaGuardia and JFK, offer them only at certain terminals. But that may be about to change: In June, Delta Air Lines became the first major carrier to back the concept, and Clear lanes will soon appear in its terminals at JFK, LaGuardia, and Los Angeles International.

Soon after 9/11, Congress and the nascent Transportation Security Administration (TSA) embraced the registered-traveler concept as a way to deal more intelligently with the nearly 3 million passengers who transit U.S. airports daily, separating the small number of "known" travelers from the pack so that screeners can focus on those who merit more scrutiny. But the program got sidelined along the way by the American Civil Liberties Union, which predictably objected to the background checks, and, surprisingly, by the Air Transport Association (ATA), the lobbying arm for the major U.S. airlines. Two years ago, the ATA mounted a campaign to convince airports to boycott Clear and other private-sector expedited screening plans because, as a spokesman put it, "the money would be better spent improving security for everyone." Most large carriers acknowledge that their lack of enthusiasm stems from the fact that they offer their own priority lanes as a perk to valued frequent fliers and premium-class ticket holders. But with Delta now breaking ranks, the ATA can't claim unanimity on the issue.

The TSA's support has been halfhearted out of fear that terrorists with no criminal past might obtain registered-traveler cards. Clear's CEO, Steven Brill, however, pointed out that cardholders don't avoid security screening. They still go through metal detectors staffed by TSA screeners. As for the ATA's concern about misspent security funds, none of the money used for the registered-traveler lanes is coming out of the TSA's budget. To offset the cost of manning the lanes, the agency receives $28 from every card issued.

Have fliers taken to the registered-traveler program? Brill said that the membership renewal rate nationwide averages more than 90 percent. And now that enrolling is even more convenient—Clear applicants can sign up at participating airports, at an increasing number of hotels, and even in New York's Grand Central Terminal—the company expects road warriors to join in droves. Atlanta Hartsfield plans to open a Clear lane this summer. With the world's busiest airport on board, it might be hard for airlines and the TSA to stand in the way.