Wish you could skip the security line at Logan Airport? As soon as next summer, travelers may have the option to clear TSA in Framingham instead of Boston.
Massport officials revealed their plans on Thursday for a “remote terminal pilot” that would be just down the street from the Logan Express bus stop in Framingham. Passengers and their bags would be screened by TSA there before getting on a secure bus that would take them to the airport, dropping them off past security checkpoints at Logan.
Massport’s Peter Howe said the pilot program is aimed at decreasing congestion on the roads around Logan Airport, and “reducing the stress of getting to the airport and through security.”
How Logan’s remote terminal pilot program would work
“The remote facility will allow passengers to arrive at a remote location, check their bags, go through TSA screening, and doing all of this even before departing for the airport,” Howe said at a Massport board of directors meeting Thursday.
Massport said it is in “active discussions” with the TSA about the program, with a target start date of summer 2026.
Under the pilot proposal, buses would run every hour for about a five-hour period. Each bus would have between 15 and 30 ticketed passengers on board. Checked and carry-on bags would be stored separately under the bus.
Passengers would have to reserve tickets in advance. The cost would not be more than a regular Logan Express ticket, Massport CEO Rich Davey said, at least at first.
“We’ll probably lose money for this pilot I would suspect, but it won’t be much,” Davey said. “I really want to understand if this is something that people are interested in doing before we spend tons of money.”
Massport board member John Nucci said he’d want to see the pilot program expand as quick as possible.
“Let’s put the pedal to the metal on this strategy and do it as much as we can,” he said.
Safety concerns
Massport noted that Philadelphia International Airport has a similar bus program, though passengers there are going through security at smaller airports in the area.
Other board members said they were supportive of the plan, but expressed concerns about the possibility of bags somehow being tampered with between Framingham and Boston, which is a 22 mile ride, most of it on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
“This is a big step, having a remote TSA clearance, it has a lot of responsibilities,” board member and Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis said. “It really needs to be extremely thorough before we can even consider anything like that.”
The TSA would have to sign off on Massport’s plan before it can begin.
Passengers welcome the program
“You get into Logan, sometimes even the TSA pre-line is 100 people deep,” said Logan Express traveler Dan Cronberg. “So if we could avoid that, I’m all for it.”
If the program is successful and popular, it could expand to Logan Express stops in Woburn and Braintree.
“It seems to me that would be an easy way to maybe get it moving even quicker,” said Logan Express traveler Jack McMahon.
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