LaGuardia Gateway Partners Terminal B transformation
“Progress update from LaGuardia Gateway Partners, operators of Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport, highlights the work completed on the new arrivals & departures hall since 2016.”
AIRPORT VOICE, MARCH 2020 29
Hi-tech parking at airports
Cashless, automatic systems begin to roll-out
Future-Proof Parking
Technology at Four New York
and New Jersey Airports
In 2014, the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey,
faced with the prospect of an
aging Parking Access & Revenue
Control System (PARCS)
at John F. Kennedy International
Airport (JFK), LaGuardia
Airport (LGA), and Newark
Liberty International
Airport (EWR), began a twoyear
process of planning, research
and RFP issuance for
a new PARCS for its airports.
This kicked off an unprecedented
initiative, culminating
in the largest airport PARCS
replacement project ever undertaken.
The Port Authority needed
to replace the twelve-year-old
3M PARCS systems at JFK,
LGA and EWR, three Large
Hub Airports that process a
combined 7.8 million parking
transactions and over
$250 million in revenue annually,
as well as expanding
the new PARCS to Stewart
International Airport (SWF),
a smaller Port Authority-run
airport that is expected to undergo
future growth and activity.
The new system had to be
scalable, evolvable, and customer
friendly. After an intensive
RFP process, the Port
Authority chose DESIGNA as
its partner for this massive
project. The backbone of this
enterprise solution will be
DESIGNA’s ABACUS technology,
which has been successfully
installed at various highprofile
international airports
worldwide.
For Peter Carbonaro, the
Port Authority’s Manager of
Airport Access Programs, one
of the major considerations
in the decision-making process
for the purchase of a new
PARCS was its “future-proofing“,
or the adaptability to
accommodate future system
enhancements. “DESIGNA’s
modular architecture and
system design gives the Port
Authority the flexibility to
expand our enterprise and incorporate
today’s latest technology,
as well as tomorrow’s
emerging technologies,“ says
Carbonaro. “Being futureproof
is essential in maximizing
the life expectancy of our
investment. We wanted a system
that will not only take
us through the next several
years, but give us the ability
to adapt to future trends that
may not be fully emergent
yet.“
To ensure a system that
could adapt to future enhancements,
the primary goals for
the Port Authority project included:
increased automation,
efficiency, scalability, and customer
service capabilities, expanded
electronic payment
options and improved vehicular
throughput, and a solution
that is state-of-the-art, evolvable
and future-proof.
Another benefit of the new
system will becentralized reporting
in addition to localized
reporting for the different
airport facilities with
Increased Automation and
Next-Level System Capabilities
and Customer Services.
Kyle Sundin, Manager of
Airport Parking and Revenue
Systems for the Port Authority,
stated that the objective is
to eventually have total automation
in the parking lots.
“Automated parking facilities
can offer minimal effort
and maximum convenience
for customers while making
better use of space,“ says Sundin.
“The latest parking technology
can decrease costs,
increase profitability, streamline
operations and increase
the efficient use of airport
parking services.“
The new system will include
pre-booking, E-ZPass
RFID functionality, and numerous
new electronic payment
options. Entry and exit
plaza cameras will be installed
for Automated License
Plate Recognition (ALPR) to
link individual vehicles to
their actual time of entry and
exit and ensure proper fee calculation.
A Mobile License
Plate Inventory (MLPI) solution
will also be implemented
to provide Port Authority operations
and public safety personnel
and parking customers
with the location of individual
vehicles within the parking
facilities.
Variable message signs
and parking space guidance
systems will provide customer
convenience in communicating
space availability,
traffic flow requirements,
seasonal messages, and other
useful messaging. The Port
Authority is moving towards
its plans for completely automated,
cashless exit lanes.
In/Out payment capabilities
will allow both ticketless and
ticketed payment on both entry
and exit, by a number of
payment methods including
EMV credit card and mobile
apps. An automatic pre-booking
parking system will enable
ticketless parking with
online reservations and prepaid
mobile QR codes. E-ZPass
payment and mobile pay options
such as Apple Pay and
Samsung Wallet will also be
available.
“The enhanced system capabilities
will increase our
automation,” says Sundin.
“This will allow airport parking
to evolve from a logistical
exercise to a customer service
and revenue opportunity. Automated
parking and smart
parking technologies will expand
electronic payment options
and take the revenue
control system to a new level.”