Portable readers boarding Washington State Ferries

PORT TOWNSEND, USA: Intellicheck Mobilisa, Inc., a player in identity solutions and wireless security systems, has been awarded a $333K contract to provide 33 IM2610 TWIC Plus portable hand held readers to the Washington State Ferries, operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The Intellicheck Mobilisa readers, as explained here, will seamlessly integrate into the Washington State Ferries' existing access control security system for the purpose of authenticating and enrolling Washington State Ferry employee TWIC cards, authenticating TWIC cards of visitors and vendors who have the card, as well as reading drivers licenses, passports and current Washington State Ferries employee ID cards.

Installation, which began this week, is expected to be completed by late August. Dr. Nelson Ludlow, CEO of Intellicheck Mobilisa, said, "The Washington State Ferries system operates an extensive set of routes around Puget Sound and between the Seattle-Tacoma area and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We believe our ID card readers can play a significant role in enhancing the security of employees of this transportation network and its passengers. We look forward to working with the Washington State Department of Transportation to implement our technology."

TWIC is an initiative of the TSA and U.S. Coast Guard to provide tamper-resistant biometric identification cards to port facility workers. The U.S. government has given guidance through the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) that large passenger ferry systems, cruise ships, major cargo or container ships, along with major ports will require TWIC cards and readers.