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Here in New York and other Northeastern states, we have a wonderful system called E-ZPass that lets those with prepaid accounts buzz through highway and bridge tolls with little or no wait. If you've ever driven through any of the bridges in and around New York City, you can appreciate the time this system saves.Where I live near our country's border with Canada, there's a similar express system for pre-approved, low-risk people who frequently travel between the States and Canada.

Now, there's more than one initiative in the works for letting frequent fliers get through airport security in an expedited way. One is a program called Clear, which is a privately operated version of the government's recently ended "Registered Traveler" test. In both cases, about 10,000 travelers signed up and, in the former case, paid $79.95 for a one-year "pass" that lets them complete security checks with little or no delay.

A few thoughts on this system, which relies on finger and iris scans as well as background checks: