Arizona Transportation Officials Urge Travelers To Buy New ID

By Austin Westfall
Published: Tuesday, April 10, 2018 - 4:33pm
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Arizona Department of Transportation
A sample Voluntary Travel ID card.

Those who use a Arizona driver's license or ID card to get through checkpoints at the airport are being urged to get a new form of identification.

In 2005, as a response to 9/11, the federal government passed the REAL ID Act, holding state IDs to a higher standard of identification.

Current Arizona IDs do not meet these standards, and officials say they will only get you through federally controlled facilities until October 2020.

Doug Nick is a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicles Division, who is offering the Voluntary Travel ID card.

“Which is a driver license or an ID card that has a gold star in the right corner that shows that it’s compliant with the REAL ID identification requirements," he said.

Arizonans will have to provide more documents, such as Social Security cards and utility bills, to obtain a Voluntary Travel ID card. It costs $25 and will be valid for eight years.

After the deadline, travelers could also use another form of federally compliant identification, such as a passport.