The Challenge
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver serves 9 counties and 44 municipalities and has 85 million passenger trips aboard its light rail, bus, call-n-Ride and access-a-Ride services each year. As a result, it handles millions of dollars a year in collected transit fees. Like other financial organizations, the RTD Treasury needed a state-of-the-art solution to secure access to its offices and safes.
But card-based access alone left too much risk. The Treasury wanted to increase security by adding a stronger authentication factor to its access control measures.
The Solution
The Treasury began looking for a biometric solution as the most secure way to control access to its area. It found what it was looking for in 3D face readers from the enterprise access division of L-1 Identity Solutions. The division’s biometric solutions authenticate workers using factors unique to them — such as the structure of their face.
The Treasury tied the face readers to a Lenel card access system and placed a mantrap at the entrance to ensure only one person could enter at a time. Treasury employees pause in front of the face reader, which authenticates them in under a second against the template called up by their smart cards. The L-1 3D Face Reader shines a near-infrared light on the user’s face of a grid pattern and takes a picture of the resulting distortions. It collects some 40,000 data points and makes matches based on information such as the curvature of the forehead. As a result, the reader can make a match even if a person’s face changes as a result of scars or swelling caused by an accident or weight gain or loss. Because the reader uses its own light source, it can also make matches in poor lighting conditions. The face readers can accommodate a number
of facial positions, further simplifying the user experience. The enrollment process during which a user’s facial image is first acquired takes 6 to 8 seconds.
Because of the amount of cash it deals with, the Treasury set the threshold for the face reader very high. This means that a high number of data points must match before an employee can gain access. At lower thresholds, fewer data point matches are needed. “We have Treasury’s security access thresholds set very high on the 3D face reader, because Treasury cannot tolerate any false accepts, yet we experience a 99 percent throughput rate. The L-1 3D face readers are serving us with fast speeds and high accuracy,” said RTD Treasury Manager Don Young.
The Results
The Treasury has added a new dimension to its security and created a formidable obstacle for would-be intruders. The face readers use a factor of authentication that can’t be lost, stolen or copied making it impossible for unauthorized personnel to gain access while keeping the access process straightforward and uncomplicated for employees.
“Security at the Treasury has been increased significantly,” Young said. “L-1 3D face readers are an elegant and simple solution that will present a significant challenge to anyone attempting to gain unauthorized access to the Treasury.” Like the RTD, other organizations are also beginning to see the value of face recognition.
According to the International Biometric Group (IBG) report, Biometric Market and Industry Report 2007-2012, face recognition technology is expected to exceed $1 billion in annual revenues by 2012.
As a result of the implementation, the RTD, which has 1,100 buses and 35 miles of light rail, is examining where else it can take advantage of the face readers. “The Treasury application of L-1 3D facial recognition has been successful. We will continue evaluating the use of L-1 3D facial readers for additional programs,” said Michael Sinclair, RTD’s Security Systems Administrator.
