1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a system and process for ensuring the provenance of passengers who intend to board a vehicle at a transportation facility such as, e.g., a commercial airport.
2. Discussion of the Known Art
Certain public transportation systems or facilities must ensure the provenance of each passenger before allowing him or her to board a vehicle such as a commercial aircraft at the facility. As used herein, “provenance” implies (i) knowledge that a given person who has checked into a transportation facility is the same person who later appears at a departure area (gate) of the facility or who actually enters the vehicle, and (ii) knowledge of the person with respect to (a) the ability of him or her to pass successfully through immigration or other checks on arrival, and (b) a security assessment based, for example, on a background check in order to quantify a risk the passenger might pose to other individuals (passengers or otherwise) if allowed to board the vehicle. Knowledge of both the mentioned items (i) and (ii) will therefore allow a determination to be made of the passenger's overall fitness for travel through the facility.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,096 (Sep. 12, 2000) relates to a system and method for automated aircraft boarding and passenger billing, wherein passenger check-in and boarding is determined by the use of an iris recognition system in conjunction with associated passenger accounts. The patent does not address privacy issues concerning the anonymity of the biometric record, or certain instances in actual deployments wherein data attempted to be acquired from the iris is insufficient alone for recognition of a particular passenger (e.g., a blind person whose eyelids are closed) without other information. In addition, the patent is not concerned with the fitness of prospective passengers for boarding and traveling on an aircraft, nor does it disclose particular billing methods that may be optimal with respect to the transportation carrier or organization.