The Transportation Security Administration is unveiling new technology this month at several airports aimed at verifying boarding passes and IDs of passengers . A total of 30 machines from three different companies will be tested at Dulles International Airport near Washington , George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and the San Juan airport in Puerto Rico . Dulles received the first of the machines and began rolling them out Wednesday . `` We feel that this technology is a step up from the current technology we are using today , '' said Domenic Bianchini , director of TSA 's checkpoint technology . Each company 's machine looks different , has different software and uses different algorithms , but for passengers they all operate in a similar way . Travelers approaching the credential authentication system scan their boarding pass bar code on the front of a large computer-equipped podium . They then give the boarding pass and their identification to a TSA employee who puts it in a scanner . The computer scans the materials and checks to make sure such security features as holograms and bar codes are present . The passengers ' information from the ID and boarding pass is displayed on the computer screen , along with their photo scanned from their ID . The machine compares all the data collected from the front and back of the ID and the boarding pass . If everything matches , the TSA agent is then prompted to allow the passenger to proceed . `` If there are n't any alerts at all , basically it 's a green light , '' Bianchini said . `` They will process the individual and ask them to proceed to the checkpoint . '' If the data does n't match , agents are able to look at screens showing the information scanned and identify where there is a discrepancy and potentially find a fraudulent ID or boarding pass . `` We 'll be able to look and see what specific security feature may have caused an alert and that allows the officer to focus their attention in a specific area , '' Bianchini said . Bianchini said he is not aware of any fraudulent documents found so far . One TSA employee at Dulles said he found an apparent mistake by a state which issued a passenger 's driver 's license that provided one gender on the front and another gender in the bar code on the back of the license . TSA spokespeople asked the employee to stop relaying that story , and would not comment on how the devices have worked since being deployed at Dulles . The machines do not save the information collected once the agent clears the data to advance to the next passenger , according to the TSA , and passenger data is not checked against any watch lists or other databases . The devices are designed to check documents in a `` matter of seconds , '' Bianchini said . TSA officials would not specify any predicted time it will take passengers to go through the machine , or if it would take longer than the traditional manual ID check currently in place . `` We do n't have data with passengers at this point , '' said TSA spokesman Greg Soule , noting it was a pilot program . CNN timed a handful of passengers going through one machine at the Dulles checkpoint Friday . Most people spent about 30 seconds at the machine , however the TSA agent operating it had to call over another agent several times for help . One passenger spent more than a minute and a half at the machine ; another spent two and a half minutes . `` We are getting that first experience . Then , over time , we hope to see more familiarity with that technology and faster processing , '' Bianchini said . The initial pilot machines cost about $ 3.2 million , or a little more than $ 100,000 each . The program deals only with document checkers that passengers encounter at the entrance to the checkpoint . It does not change the existing screening inside , including metal detectors , body scanners and X-ray machines . The pilot program is scheduled to expand to Houston on Tuesday and San Juan on April 23 and is expected to last several months . `` Once the testing is complete , TSA will make a final determination if we can roll out one or more of these technologies into the airports , '' Bianchini said . `` The intent is to have a system like this at every airport checkpoint in the country . ''
The pilot program is aimed at verifying boarding passes and IDs of passengers . Dulles International Airport is the first of three airports to get the machines . The program will also be tested in San Juan and Houston . The devices are designed to check documents in a `` matter of more than a minute and a half , '' TSA official says .