Abstract: One aspect of the invention is a system controlling individual access at an airport. The system comprising an access card having machine readable information of an encoded biometric characteristic. An access control terminal includes a reader for reading the encoded biometric characteristic from the access card. A biometric reader makes a contemporaneous biometric reading of the presenting individual. A processor grants or denies access by comparing the read encoded biometric reading with the presenting individual biometric reading. Another aspect of the invention is controlling entry to commercial vehicles. A biometric reading of a passenger is taken. A boarding pass having the passenger's biometric reading is generated. A contemporaneous biometric reading of each passenger presenting a boarding pass is taken. The presented boarding pass encoded information is compared to a contemporaneous input. Based on the comparison, access is granted or denied.