Will the REAL ID Act affect your travel program?
All companies that travel should be familiar with the REAL ID Act. It’s a federal act that requires standards for certain forms of identification and it could affect your travel. Sometime in the near future, a new type of driver license will be required by TSA to board a flight. The good news is that currently, only a handful of states are not compliant. Here is a brief summary of what the REAL ID Act is from the Department of Homeland Security:
Passed by Congress in 2005, the REAL ID Act enacted the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that the Federal Government “set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver’s licenses.” The Act established minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards and prohibits Federal agencies from accepting for official purposes licenses and identification cards from states that do not meet these standards. States have made considerable progress in meeting this key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and every state has a more secure driver’s license today than before the passage of the Act.
Your travel management company should be familiar with the REAL ID Act and how it could affect your travel program. If you haven’t already, speak with your TMC account manager about what the REAL ID Act might mean for you. In addition, you can visit The Department of Homeland Security’s website for more information: https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-public-faqs