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Exit lanes are areas within an airport that provide transitions between the sterile areas where individuals have undergone security screening and public areas where they have not. Securing exit lanes is an issue of access control— detecting and preventing unauthorized personnel, as well as preventing the introduction of prohibited items into the sterile area through the exit lane. Failure to control access through the exit lane can result in a security breach that disrupts airport operations and results in significant costs to the airport and airlines.
The transition zone is the passageway that allows egress by screened individuals from the sterile to the public area. Within these transition zones, access is controlled to prevent unauthorized individuals from entering the sterile area without submitting to screening.
Thresholds are the boundaries between the transition zone and the adjoining sterile and public areas. A breach occurs when an unauthorized individual or object moving against the authorized flow of traffic crosses the sterile area threshold.
The warning zone is a region adjacent to the transition zone but sitting entirely within the public area. Loitering, wrong-way motion, and other actions that occur in this region may result in audible warnings cautioning individuals not to enter or re-enter the exit lane from the public area.
Exit lane solutions can be grouped into five categories.
Open Lane with Guard
involves using human security guards and no technology. Although the majority of U.S. airports fall into this category, maintaining these staffed exit lanes is costly because of the personnel required to ensure continuous monitoring. Staffed exit lanes also carry risks associated with human surveillance error, such as inattentiveness and fatigue. As a result, an increasing number of U.S. airports have been investigating and implementing exit lane technology (ELT) solutions with automated capabilities that achieve the same or better security than a staffed exit lane.
Interlocking Doors
are two commercial off-the-shelf solid enclosures that extend from floor to ceiling and are usually revolving or sliding doors. The doors operate in a coordinated manner so that both cannot be opened at the same time. Each door defines the thresholds to the sterile and public areas, and the enclosure between the doors is the transition zone.
Multilayer Portal
is a fixed commercial off-the-shelf installation serving as a defined corridor between the sterile and public areas, consisting of at least two doors and employing multiple sensor technologies.
Custom Multilayer
is multiple commercial off-the-shelf products that are selected and integrated into the exit lane, often by a third-party systems integrator, to form a unique, custom system that is tailored to the specific physical configuration and needs of that exit lane. Components generally include physical barriers as well as detection and alerting systems.
Technology Enhanced Security Force (TESF)
covers custom solutions where commercial off-the-shelf technology components are paired with human security guards to provide required security capabilities. TESF options offer enhanced vigilance or physical barriers that aid human guards in preventing a breach.
Video Analytics: Image processing software capable of detecting people moving the wrong way or loitering, along with objects that have been thrown or left behind.
Other Sensors: Motion sensors based on infrared, microwave, or optical/laser technologies capable of detecting wrong-way motion.
Doors/Turnstiles/Barriers: Sensor-activated to open for passengers exiting the sterile area and close after they pass through. Includes smart one-way doors (SOWD).
TSA has created a set of broad access control capability descriptions that describe the functionality needed to secure airport exit lanes. Security measures must prevent unauthorized access into the sterile area by people and objects, as well as provide real-time notifications to authorities. These capabilities can be organized into seven broad types. When specific requirements implementing these capabilities are established by a user or vendor, they will be subject to public law, Sensitive Security Information (SSI) provisions, and TSA regulations.
DETECT > Provide real-time sensing of unauthorized persons or prohibited items as they move the wrong way past a certain location
WARN > Provide real-time notification to an unauthorized person entering, moving toward, or loitering near the exit lane “threshold” or in the “warning zone”
ALERT > Provide real-time notification to appropriate authorities of unauthorized movement into and through the transition zone by persons or prohibited items; alerts may be based on one detection or a series of detections
PREVENT > Mitigate a breach into the sterile area by unauthorized persons or prohibited items
SAFETY > Allow for passenger egress in the normal direction of flow; avoid confining innocent members of the traveling public with unauthorized persons
DOCUMENT > Record evidence of detections and breaches
SUPPORT > Provide system health and status reporting and user review functions
Within these broad capability types are Class 1 and Class 2 security capabilities. Class 1 capabilities establish a baseline that is applicable for all airports and exit lane configurations.
Class 1 Capabilities
Type
Description
Detect
Detect individuals moving counter to the flow while in the transition zone Detect individuals entering the sterile area Detect objects entering the sterile area
Alert
Alert authorities when individuals move counter to the flow while in the transition zone Alert authorities when individuals enter the sterile area Alert authorities when objects enter the sterile area
Prevent
Mitigate the unauthorized entry of individuals into the sterile area Mitigate the unauthorized entry of objects into the sterile area
Safety
Allow for normal egress through the exit lane Avoid confining passengers with an unauthorized individual
Class 2 Capabilities
Type
Description
Detect
Detect individuals entering the warning zone from the public area Detect individuals loitering in the warning zone Detect individuals entering the transition zone from the warning zone Detect individuals that reverse direction in the transition zone Detect objects that are resting in the warning zone or transition zone Detect objects entering the transition zone from the warning zone Detect objects moving counter to the flow while in the transition zone
Warn
Warn individuals entering the warning zone from the public area Warn individuals loitering in the warning zone Warn individuals entering the transition zone from the warning zone Warn individuals entering the sterile area Warn when objects are resting in the warning zone or transition zone Warn when objects enter the transition zone from the warning zone
Alert
Alert authorities when individuals loiter in the warning zone + time component. * Alert authorities when objects are resting in the warning zone or transition zone + time component. * Alert authorities when individuals enter the transition zone from the warning zone Alert authorities when objects enter the transition zone from the warning zone Alert authorities when objects move counter to the flow while in the transition zone
Document
Document individuals entering the transition zone from the warning zone Document objects entering the transition zone from the warning zone Document individuals loitering in the warning zone + time component. * Document objects resting in the warning zone or transition zone + time component. * Document individuals moving counter to the flow Document individuals entering the sterile area Document objects entering the sterile area
Support
Provide system health and status indications Provide the ability for user review of detection information
As part of the technology awareness focus area, ELT deployment statistics were gathered to gain an understanding of which technologies are currently installed at U.S. airports. The graphics below depict statistics by region, airport category, and technology category.
By Region:
Nearby airports with similar exit lane configurations are great resources to airports to help understand the transition to technology. Statistics show that region 2 has the greatest percentage of airports with technology (36%), while region 4 has the lowest percentage of airports with technology (19%).
Total Federalized Airports: 449 Total Airports with ELT Installed: 121
By Airport Category:
CAT X airports have the highest proportion of ELT currently installed, with CAT I and II close behind. Data indicate that CAT III and IV airports do not commonly have technology, although there are instances of these airports that do have ELT.
By Technology Type:
Multilayer portals currently span 52% of ELT currently installed in airports, with TESF: Video Analytics as the second most common technology type (20%).
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) provides security technology recommendations and solutions for surface transportation, aviation infrastructure, and public areas through the Multimodal & Public Area Capabilities (MPAC) division of the Requirements & Capabilities Analysis (RCA) office. This mission is supported by legislative and executive authorities, and it has primarily been accomplished by evaluating existing security solutions and developing requirements for new technologies. TSA is developing a certification process for airports who have already installed ELT and would like to certify the installed technology. MPAC regularly engages industry and exchanges insights with transportation system owners and operators in order to stimulate the commercial technology marketplace. TSA’s MPAC division is performing a multi-year activity with airports to increase awareness of exit lane technology and to gather information and data about exit lane deployment in a variety of configurations. This activity spans multiple areas including technology awareness, decision support tools, data collection & analysis, and airport consultations. While congress currently allocates funding for Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to man some exit lanes, congress has expressed the intention of removing this funding from TSA for TSOs. All future designs and construction projects are to incorporate automated exit lane capabilities. TSA strongly encourages all airports conducting terminal renovations to implement Automated or Technology Enhanced exit lane technology to better prepare for the removal of congressional funding.
Increasing Technology Awareness: SOTR
TSA produced the State of Tech Report (SOTR), which is an exclusive resource for airports on exit lane technologies. It provides guidance on the capabilities that TSA considers necessary for securing exit lanes, discusses currently available commercial solutions, and describes a set of TSA initiatives aimed at helping TSA stakeholders, airport operators, and industry partners to find optimal solutions for their own unique environments. Note: The SOTR strives to capture the technology currently available without providing vendor recommendations.
Decision Support Tools: ELT Toolbox
It can be challenging to sift through the various categories of exit lane technology solutions and determine which technology types are compatible with a particular exit lane. To help airport stakeholders plan and implement access control solutions for their exit lanes, TSA developed the Exit Lane Technology Toolbox—an interactive, web-based platform containing decision support tools and resources that airports can request access to and leverage for planning purposes.
Exit Lanes Airport Data Collection & Analysis
TSA’s MPAC division is collecting ELT post-deployment data at partner airports and conducting analyses using this in-service data. This will enable unprecedented insight into how a variety of deployed systems (different technology categories and product configurations) perform over time, including effectiveness and maintenance trends.
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