Airport Check-in: Canada aims to register frequent travelers;
LAX looking at rail serviceBy Roger Yu, Excerpted from USA TODAY, 10/31/2006
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA: Canada tries to register more fliers
To deal with imminent changes in the rules for traveling from the USA to Canada, Vancouver International is stepping up its marketing efforts for Nexus Air. The program speeds up customs clearance for frequent travelers between the USA and Canada who have registered and been approved.
Like the U.S. Registered Traveler program, members establish their identities through a biometric reading, in this case an iris scan.
About 8,500 travelers have paid $50 to join Nexus Air, which has been operating on a test basis since 2004. In January, the program will begin expanding to eight more Canadian airports.
That's when air travelers between the two countries will need a passport or some other government-approved documents, such as a Nexus Air card.
Driver's licenses, commonly used in crossing the border, will no longer be valid. Officials hope expanded use of Nexus Air will hold down the expected growth in the lines at customs. To get more users, the Nexus Air fee soon will start buying membership for five years, not one. The extension will apply to all who have previously bought membership.
The airport has begun running ads on boarding passes. It will also increase the number of kiosks at Vancouver to 20 from six.
TETERBORO, N.J.: Runway buffer proves its worth
A new barrier at Teterboro airport installed earlier this month to prevent planes from careening off the runway passed its first test. Teterboro is the popular gateway to nearby Manhattan for business aircraft.
On landing, a Canadair Challenger 600, a business jet, overshot the runway Wednesday night but stopped once it reached the new "arrestor bed." No one was hurt. Made of concrete blocks, the 260-feet-long buffer stops planes by collapsing under their weight.
In 2005, a plane at the general aviation airport overshot the runway, crossed Route 46 and crashed into a building. A similar buffer at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., recently stopped a plane carrying Yankee infielder Alex Rodriguez. The Federal Aviation Administration now requires commercial airports without a sufficient buffer at the end of runways to take action.
LOS ANGELES: LAX could get rail service right to airport
Los Angeles officials are considering a new light rail line that will reach LAX. Los Angeles' metro rail system now reaches a station near the airport, but travelers still have to take a shuttle to the terminal. The new line would run along Crenshaw Boulevard, possibly starting at Wilshire Boulevard and veering westward on Florence Avenue. Cost: about $1 billion.