Airport transportation gets upgraded
AIRPORT V 4 OICE, JANUARY 2022
Digital tools up efficiency and customer satisfaction
BY JEFF YAPALATER
JFK is experimenting with
three transportation initiatives.
One is for the yellow cab drivers,
the second is for on-demand
rides and the third is truck dock
reservations for cargo truckers.
Each improvement plans to add
to the bottom line of all involved
by reducing wait time, reducing
congestion and emissions and
most importantly, making the
customer happy. The Uber/Lyft
on-demand pilot is a venture between
JFKIAT with support of the
Port Authority. The dock management
system is a private venture
between Worldwide Flight
Services( WFS) partnering with
Kale Solutions. The taxi solution
is being managed by the Port Authority
as part of its responsibility
for the yellow cab distribution at
the airports.
PANYNJ Taxi
management
The Yellow Taxi cab pilot
was first envisioned in 020 and
has ben introduced piecemeal
to LGA and Newark. Ultimately
there will be an app for the drivers,
but for now, IBI Solutions
has implemented the Airport
Ground Transportation System
(GTS) which integrates with vehicle
tracking equipment to monitor
the movements of commercial
vehicles like taxis, buses and
TNCs as they pick up and drop
off passengers at the curb. Every
taxi is outfitted with a RFID device
that allows tracking.
Using the GTS system allows
an airport’s ground transportation
team to:
• Track vehicles through various
zones of the airport
• Assess fees based on configurable
business rules
• Detect and manage violations
• Send alert notifications
• Drivers and passengers
should begin to benefit from an
upgraded dispatching experience
and in late 2021-early 2022
drivers can expect to phase into
virtual queuing via a mobile app.
“Our solution provides benefits
to airport operators and
commercial vehicle drivers, saving
them valuable time and resources
through the use of smart
technology,” said Tissa De Silva,
director, senior practice lead, intelligent
systems for IBI Group
JFKIAT rideshare
pilot
Begun in September, the
JFKIAT T4 T4arrivals pilot goals
are to streamline the process
by which passengers meet their
rideshare vehicle and to reduce
hustlers dwelling on the frontage.
Both Uber/Lyft have proprietary
apps which are used to manage
the flow of their vehicles at the airport
that are staged in the Cell los
awaiting call by the customer to
picked up in the designated area
across fro T4. During the pilot,
signage is displayed at the curb
of the inner roadway (on the island)
delineating specific pickup
zones for both Uber and Lyft. The
Port brought this pilot to T4 after
a successful trial at LGA and
looking to see if expanding this
program is feasible at EWR. Recently
both Rick Cotton and Huntley
Lawrence toured the curbside
area and spoke with Port and IAT
workers about their thoughts of
how the trial is working.
WFS Truck Slot
Management
The WFS proof of concept is
addressing a decades old problem
of wait time and congestion
at the many cargo warehouses
around JFK. Through a partnership
with Kale Info Solutions.
Building 9 was chosen which
is home to Korean Airlines and
handles several other international
carriers. Through an app,
dispatchers of truckers can go to
the app, enter details about their
individual air bills, and then receive
a time when the shipment
will be ready. This information
is digitally shared with the dispatcher
who sends the trucker at
an appointed time to get or drop
off cargo. The goal is to shorter
wait time, alleviate congestion,
reduce engine emissions for long
waits, and to save money for forwarders
and make more money
for independent drivers. According
WFS VP Rinzing Wangal
“Our truck slot management system
focuses on building a digital
backbone for the air cargo
industry by reducing paper handling,
enabling efficient planning,
faster processing and increasing
throughput of the warehouses
by moving truckers in and out
faster.”