The US government will offer special "passport cards" as a cheap alternative to traditional documents for Americans visiting Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by land or sea, the State Department announced Tuesday. The department said it has awarded General Dynamics Information Technology a five-year contract of nearly 100 million dollars to produce the cards. "The passport card will facilitate entry and expedite document processing at US land and sea ports-of-entry when arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda," the department said. The government will begin distribution of the cards, which will not be accepted for air travel, in the spring. US citizens can apply for them starting February 1. While passports are required for air travel in faraway countries, US citizens have been allowed to show just a driver's license when returning from neighbouring countries by land or sea. But the government has been tightening travel rules since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Starting January 31, Americans will need to show proof of citizenship in addition to an identification card such as a driver's licence when returning from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Next summer, US travelers will need to show a passport for all travel. The passport card is being issued as a cheaper and more convenient travel document for Americans living in the northern and southern borders who complained that traditional passports were too cumbersome. Reprinted from Caribbean Net News caribbeannetnews.com