The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is conducting a three-week pilot test of Spectrum San Diego’s CarSCAN X-Ray imaging system in conjunction with the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority to conduct explosives screening on passenger vehicles.
CarSCAN was introduced last spring by Spectrum San Diego, offering potential customers a top-down, dual-energy X-Ray transmission imaging capability of passenger vehicles. The X-Rays penetrate through the entire vehicles and produce color-coded images for different thicknesses of organic materials and also allows for organic and metal objects to be distinguished. In the pilot test, which ends on Nov. 6, vehicles are being inspected before they board the Martha’s Vineyard ferry at the Woods Hole Terminal in Falmouth, Mass. Drivers are permitted to remain in their vehicles during the screening, which lasts about 10 seconds. Cars pass through the CarSCAN portal at about 5 mph. If an anomaly is detected, the vehicle will be directed to a secondary screening area for inspection by TSA-certified explosive detection K-9 teams. “This pilot program will enable the TSA to test the effectiveness of explosive detection technologies that the Steamship Authority may want to utilize in the future, particularly during periods of heightened alert,” said Wayne Lamson, general manager for the Steamship Authority.