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CATEGORY E:
Cashierless Transactions
E.1 Pay-On-Foot Systems, 87
E.2 Credit Card In/Out, 89
E.3 Automatic Vehicle Identification/Radio-Frequency Identification, 91
E.4 IntelliDrive, 93
E.5 Proximity Cards, 94
E.6 License Plate Recognition, 95
E.7 Cellular Telephone/Pay by Cell, 97
E.8 In-Car Meters, 99
E.9 In-Lane Processing, 99
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CATEGORY E
Cashierless Transactions
E.1 Pay-On-Foot Systems · Reduces/eliminates the need for cashiers, thereby reduc-
ing operating costs. Initially, the benefits from reduced
Purpose labor costs are offset by the additional staff needed to train/
Improve customer service by reducing exit plaza delays. assist unfamiliar customers during initial months of oper-
Reduce operating costs by reducing the number of required ations and an increased number of maintenance technicians
exit lanes and reliance on exit cashiers. Increase revenue secu- needed, in part, because of the more complex equipment
rity by reducing the number of opportunities for employees dispersed throughout the airport terminal (versus con-
to handle cash. centrated at an exit plaza), and the need to assure system
reliability.
Use by Customers · Reduces staff handling of cash, resulting in less opportu-
nity for fraud or theft.
Customers pay their parking fees at unattended pay stations, · At most European airports, all parking transactions are paid
and receive an exit pass, which they insert into a reader at the at POF stations. At U.S. airports with successful installations
exit plaza. Pay-on-foot (POF) stations typically accept cash and of POF stations (see Key Considerations), over 85% of all
credit cards (some may accept only credit cards) and issue cus- transactions are paid in this manner, while at less successful
tomer receipts and, if cash is used, change. Customers must keep installations, fewer than 35% of all transactions are paid in
their parking tickets with them so that they are able to pay at the this manner. The proportion of customers using POF sta-
pay stations before returning to their vehicles. A key aspect of tions is directly related to factors identified in Key Consid-
successful POF implementation is teaching customers to keep erations, as well as the customer's familiarity with POF (e.g.,
their tickets with them and to use the POF stations to avoid in Europe, where POF parking has been used for many
exit delays. years, it is often viewed as the standard method to pay at all
parking facilities).
Some airport operators (as well as many urban parking
· The required exit plaza size is reduced because fewer exit
garage operators) supplement the POF system with a single
lanes are required as a result of the reduced transaction time
cashier located near the POF stations. These cashiers process
required and readers require narrower islands than do
transactions for customers unwilling or unable to use the
cashier booths, resulting in smaller plaza widths.
POF stations.
· Emissions from vehicles at the exit plaza are reduced. One
operator reported that, with 80% use of POF stations and
Benefits
the corresponding 49-second reduction in average vehicle
Significant reductions in exit delays, number of required processing time at the exit plaza, exiting vehicles generated
staffed exit lanes, and opportunity for theft or fraud resulting approximately 2.26 tons carbon monoxide less than if POF
from less staff handling of cash. Specific benefits identified by was not available.
parking operators include the following:
Implementation Actions
· Provides faster processing times at facility exits and elimi-
nates exit delays and queues, thereby improving customer 1. Prepare plans and specifications, select vendor/contrac-
service. Processing of exiting vehicles is reduced from a tor to install system. Select a user-friendly POF station
range of 90 to 120 seconds per vehicle to 15 seconds per design. Give particular attention to the face plate to assure
vehicle. One airport reports 7 seconds per vehicle. that the required sequence of steps (i.e., insert ticket,
87
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88 Guidebook for Evaluating Airport Parking Strategies and Supporting Technologies
insert card or cash, receive exit pass and any change) are Implementation Costs
easily understood.
2. Consider the use of some credit-card-only stations versus POF cash and credit card stations cost about $35,000 to
stations that accept both cash and credit card, as the former $50,000 each, while credit-card-only stations cost about $9,000
to $13,000 (see Appendix A). These costs exclude ticket dis-
are less expensive to purchase and maintain.
pensers, exit verifiers, and other supporting equipment. Addi-
3. Train staff to assist customers during the transition period
tional cost items include staff training, a marketing program,
and to perform required system maintenance.
signage, and potential exit plaza reconfiguration (e.g., removal
4. Prepare marketing and advertising program. Successful
of booths).
utilization follows a well-designed and extensive publicity
campaign. Ongoing O&M Costs
5. Assure that pay stations function properly and reliably and
are well maintained. O&M costs include those for equipment maintenance
(whether performed by the vendor or airport staff) and
Key Considerations
Those identified by airport operators include
1. Assess if the airport configuration is suitable for POF sta-
tions. Ideally, there should be a limited number of pedes-
trian paths between the parking facility and the terminal,
and prominent locations should be available for the
required POF stations. All locations should have space for
redundant POF stations.
2. Some airport operators temporarily maintained staffed
counters in the parking facility for customers with excep-
tion tickets. Most airport operators either direct these cus-
tomers to a parking office (often located near the exit plaza)
or provide an audio communication between the POF sta-
tion and remotely located supervisors (with supervisors also
having access to video cameras).
Source: Jacobs Consultancy.
3. Develop procedures for lost tickets (e.g., video recording of
exiting vehicles, use of license plate readers, use of overnight Figure E.1a. Pay-on-foot station located inside
license plate inventories, or other measures). passenger terminal at Manchester (U.K.) Airport.
4. Implement pre-implementation marketing and advertising
program to remind customers that they must keep their
tickets with them, and can benefit from using the pay sta-
tions rather than waiting in exit queues. Less training is
required at airports serving a customer base composed of
frequent travelers (e.g., business travelers).
5. Avoid phased-in implementation. Highest customer use
occurs when customers are required to use the POF system
rather than allowed to have continued access to exit cashiers.
6. Assure participation by airport staff representing parking
operations, audit/finance, IT, and engineering throughout
the design and vendor selection process.
7. Avoid burdening a system with too many optional fea-
tures that may complicate day-to-day parking operations.
Review the airport's business practices and determine
which features are essential, and which are optional.
8. Implement program for assuring system reliability. Cus- Source: Jacobs Consultancy.
tomers may be discouraged from using POF stations if Figure E.1b. Pay-on-foot station located at entrance
they do not function reliably or are out of service. to parking garage at Vancouver International Airport.
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Category E: Cashierless Transactions 89
cashiers. Reduce opportunity for theft or fraud since there is
less need for staff to handle cash.
Use by Customers
Customers entering the parking facilities insert their credit
cards into card readers, which read the credit card numbers
and open the gates. To exit, customers drive to exit gates and
insert the same credit cards into the readers. The revenue
control system calculates the fee, charges the customer's
credit card account, returns the card to the customer, issues
a receipt, and opens the gate. A key aspect of a successful
credit card in/out system is teaching customers to remem-
ber to use the same credit card to enter and exit the park-
ing facility.
Source: Skidata, Inc.
Benefits
Figure E.1c. Cash and credit card (left) and credit
card only (right) pay-on-foot systems. Significant reductions are realized in exit delays, required
staffed exit lanes, and the opportunity for theft or fraud
supervisor time to respond to customer questions (see resulting from staff handling of cash and potential ticket
Appendix A). swapping. Specific benefits identified by airport parking
operators include
Implementation Schedule
· Improved customer service as a result of the reduced exit
Implementation (including obtaining approval from man-
delays and queues due to faster processing times. One
agement, preparing design and specifications, and installation/
airport parking operator reported that before credit card
testing) can require 2 to 3 years depending on the time required
in/out was installed, typical customer wait times in the
for management approval.
parking exit plaza queue were approximately 2.5 min-
Supporting and Complementary Strategies utes. After installation of credit card in/out, typical cus-
and Technologies in This Guidebook tomer wait times in the parking exit plaza were reduced
to 30 seconds.
POF systems are often implemented as part of a revenue con-
· At airports where credit card in/out was added to an exist-
trol system upgrade or replacement. Complementary strategies
ing pay-on-foot revenue control system, customers may
and technologies include
experience a higher level of service because they can bypass
· Space Locators (D.9), payment kiosks and proceed directly to their vehicles. The
· Credit Card In/Out (E.2), and exit processing time for credit card in/out transactions,
· License Plate Recognition (E.6). although longer than the processing time for pay-on-foot
Examples of Application stations, is still only 30 seconds or less.
· Increased parking revenue for operators that charge a higher
Airports with POF systems include those serving Baltimore, daily parking rate for customers electing to use cash instead
Boston, Indianapolis, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, San Diego, of the credit card in/out system (i.e., those who offer a
San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, Toronto, Vancouver, Wash- "discounted" rate to customers who enter and exit using
ington, DC (Dulles), other U.S. airports, and many airports the preferred method of payment--credit cards).
throughout Europe. See Figures E.1a through E.1c. · Rapid customer acceptance of the new technology. Airport
operators have reported usage levels exceeding 75% within
E.2 Credit Card In/Out 2 years of implementation.
· Reduced staff handling of cash, resulting in less opportu-
Purpose
nity for fraud or theft.
Improve customer service by reducing exit plaza delays. · Reduced opportunity for fraud or theft involving ticket
Reduce number of required exit lanes and reliance on exit swaps.
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90 Guidebook for Evaluating Airport Parking Strategies and Supporting Technologies
· Can be implemented at smaller parking facilities that may card in/out was rapid and a high proportion of customers
not have the capacity to justify the expense of staffed used the system. One airport operator reported 70% use
cashiering. of credit card in/out at its close-in parking facility (the
· If desired by the operator, credit card in/out transactions facility commonly used by business travelers) and 40%
can be implemented as a component of a pay-on-foot park- use of credit card in/out at its remote economy parking
ing system or as an option in a cashiered system. facility (the facility commonly used by leisure travelers).
· At U.S. airports with successful installations of credit card 3. Well-designed pre-implementation promotional, market-
in/out (see Key Considerations), over 70% of all transac- ing, and advertising program to inform customers of the
tions are paid in this manner, while at less successful instal- option so that they are aware of the benefits of using the
lations, fewer than 50% of transactions are paid in this technology and, when they enter the facility, they are ready
manner. The proportion of customers using credit card to use a credit card rather than taking a ticket. Less train-
in/out is directly related to factors identified in Key Con- ing is required at airports serving a customer base consist-
siderations, as well as the customer's familiarity with the ing mostly of frequent travelers (e.g., business travelers).
technology (e.g., at one U.S. airport where credit card 4. Monetary incentives to encourage the use of credit card
in/out has been offered for over 4 years, transactions paid in/out. One airport operator charges a higher daily rate for
in this manner exceed 80%). customers paying with cash.
· Reduction in exit plaza size because credit card readers 5. Participation by airport staff representing parking opera-
require narrower islands than do cashier booths, resulting tions, audit/finance, IT, and engineering throughout the
in narrower plazas. design and (if necessary) vendor selection process.
6. Program for assuring system reliability. Customers may be
Implementation Actions discouraged from using the system if the readers are fre-
quently out of service.
1. Explain benefits to airport management and/or key deci-
7. Well-designed credit card readers at entry and exit lanes
sion makers.
that clearly indicate which way customers should insert
2. If credit card in/out can be incorporated within the exist-
their cards.
ing revenue control system, work with system vendor to
8. Backup systems to allow customers to exit in case of
activate the capability. Acquisition of new entry and exit
power failure or disconnection with the credit card pro-
readers capable of reading credit cards may be necessary.
cessing system.
If implementation is part of a larger revenue control sys-
tem upgrade, it is likely that the implementation process
Implementation Costs
will be driven by the requirements of other components of
the system. The cost of implementing a credit card in/out system varies
3. Train staff in customer support and maintenance. depending on whether it is part of a large parking revenue con-
4. Prepare marketing and advertising programs. Successful trol system upgrade or if it is a stand-alone project. Typical
utilization follows a well-designed and extensive publicity costs may include those for acquisition of new entry/exit read-
campaign. ers and a software modification to the revenue control system
5. Assure that exit and entry readers function properly and to allow for the storage of credit card numbers. Typical costs
reliably, and are well maintained. for new ticket issuing or reader machines that accept credit
cards and costs for upgrading ticket issuing or reader machines
Key Considerations to accept credit cards are presented in Appendix A.
Those identified by airport operators include Additional cost items include staff training, a marketing
program, signage, and potential exit plaza reconfiguration
1. Procedures for misplaced or mismatched credit cards (e.g.,
(e.g., removal of cashier booths that are no longer required).
customers who lost their cards while traveling, or whose
Although some airport operators leave the cashier booths in
accounts have reached maximum balances). Typically,
place, they may be confusing to patrons who see an "open"
these procedures are similar to those for processing the tick-
lane and expect a cashier to be present.
ets of exiting customers who have insufficient cash, or who
do not have a valid credit card (i.e., those who are com-
Ongoing O&M Costs
monly referred to as "promise to pay" customers).
2. Proportion of frequent travelers using the system. At air- O&M costs include those for equipment and software
port parking facilities where a high proportion of the maintenance (whether performed by the vendor or airport
patrons are business travelers, patron acceptance of credit staff) and supervisors to respond to customer questions. One
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Category E: Cashierless Transactions 91
airport operator indicated that approximately $200,000 per Minneapolis-St. Paul, Portland (OR), Salt Lake City, San
year was spent on ongoing marketing and promotion during Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, Tampa, Toronto, Vancouver, and
the initial 3 years of its credit card in/out system. Washington, DC (Dulles). The airports serving Denver, Des
Moines, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Salt Lake City use only
Implementation Schedule credit card in/out transactions at one or all facilities, while
most of the other airports cited have pay-on-foot systems that
To date, most credit card in/out installations at airports were
allow patrons the option of using credit cards similar to a
either implemented as part of a larger parking revenue control
credit card in/out system. See Figure E.2.
system upgrade where other components of the system were
the principal drivers of the schedule or inactivated components
of an upgrade that were activated at a later date (and thus,
E.3 Automatic Vehicle
required a minimal period of time to implement). When credit
Identification (AVI)/
card in/out transactions became the main focus of one parking
Radio-Frequency
revenue control system upgrade, the entire process from con-
Identification (RFID)
cept initiation to opening day required less than a year.
Purpose
At many airports, the cost of implementing a credit card
in/out system was sufficiently low that the project did not Improve customer service by reducing exit plaza delays.
require approval by the airport commission or board. Reduce operating costs by reducing the number of required
exit lanes and reliance on exit cashiers. Reduce opportunity
Supporting and Complementary Strategies for theft or fraud as there is less need for staff to handle cash.
and Technologies in This Guidebook
Credit card in/out systems can be implemented as part of Use by Customers
a revenue control system upgrade or replacement, or imple- Customers receive AVI tags from the parking operator
mentation of a pay-on-foot parking system. Complementary or use a regional toll tag (e.g., E-ZPass, SunPass, FasTrak) fur-
strategies and technologies include: nished by a regional toll road or bridge agency. These tags,
· All value-added parking products in Category B, which are normally permanently affixed to a vehicle (although
· Pay-on-Foot Systems (E.1), some agencies allow tags to be transferred between vehicles),
· Proximity Cards (E.5), and can be accurately read by AVI readers located 10 ft or more
· License Plate Recognition (E.6). from vehicles passing through a "read zone" at high rates of
speed (e.g., over 50 miles per hour). The AVI tag is associated
Examples of Application with either a credit card account or a prepaid account. When a
customer enters an entry lane to the parking facility, an AVI
Airports with credit card in/out systems include those serv-
reader registers the tag, records the tag number and date/time,
ing Baltimore, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Indianapolis,
and signals the gate to open. To exit, the customer drives to an
exit gate where an AVI reader registers the tag number and
date/time, calculates the parking fee, charges the credit card (or
deducts from a prepaid account), may issue a receipt, and
opens the gate to permit the customer to exit.
AVI tags are already in use at most airports for the man-
agement of commercial vehicles and airport-owned vehicles.
Benefits
Potential reduction in exit delays, reduction or elimination
of required staffed exit lanes, and reduced opportunity for
theft or fraud resulting from staff handling of cash.
Implementation Actions
Source: Jacobs Consultancy.
To date, there have been a limited number of applications
Figure E.2. Credit card in/out exit. where an airport operator has installed equipment to accept
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92 Guidebook for Evaluating Airport Parking Strategies and Supporting Technologies
public parking payment via AVI tags. Typically, the AVI gate-controlled exit lanes. These customers are surprised to
reader equipment was installed as part of a larger revenue con- find a gate arm and to find that the gate arm does not open
trol system installation or upgrade, where other factors dic- immediately as they approach it.
tated the implementation steps and schedule. However, as 4. Payment collection process. Depending on the toll tag sys-
part of the installation, an airport operator will need to take tem, the agency issuing the toll tag may need to collect
the following steps: payment from the parking patron's account and transfer
it to the airport. Alternatively, the airport operator could
1. Confirm that an AVI reader (capable of reading regional
require patrons with toll tags to register their tags with air-
tags or airport-issued tags) can be integrated with the
port staff, who would then charge an associated credit card
existing or planned parking revenue control system. or send a periodic billing statement.
2. Identify location and placement of equipment required to In the event that a toll agency collects payment and
read the AVI tags. transfers it to the airport, the agency may require that the
3. For installations using toll tags distributed by another patron associate a credit card with the toll tag account.
agency, establish agreement with the agency (or clearing- Many toll agencies operate on a prepaid system, wherein
house) responsible for distributing toll tags, including fees patrons deposit an amount to their toll accounts, which is
to be retained by the clearinghouse, how and when park- debited every time the patron uses a tolled facility. When
ing fees will be collected and transferred to the airport, and the account reaches a certain minimum threshold, the toll
provision for commercial vehicles or other special card agency refills the balance by charging a credit card or bank
holders. account. As roadway tolls are typically $5 or less, minimum
For airport operators issuing their own toll tags, estab- prepaid balances may not be sufficient to cover potential
lish program whereby the airport operator would issue toll fees for stays of multiple days in an airport parking facility.
tags to patrons who elect to join the program and provide 5. One U.S. airport operator has determined that accepting
appropriate financial details (e.g., name, vehicle informa- regional toll tags for parking payment has resulted in only a
tion, and credit card information). minimal improvement in transaction time compared to
4. Identify locations for tag readers at entry and exit plazas so standard self-service credit card payment. Since much of
as to minimize the potential for reading tags in nearby the transaction time includes calculating the fee and issuing
entry or exit lanes. the receipt, the time savings offered to customers using an
5. Establish airport policies regarding single-vehicle or AVI tag is limited to the time it takes the customers to insert
multiple-vehicle use of AVI/RFID tags. and retrieve their credit cards (assuming that customers
6. Establish standard operating procedures regarding excep- have their credit cards ready as they approach the exit gate).
tion transactions while using AVI/RFID tags (e.g., unread- 6. Integration with other authorities. If the toll tag is issued by
able tags, dropped tags) and anti-passback procedures another authority (i.e., a local toll road agency), the airport
(e.g., if a tag has been read at an entry lane, it cannot be re- operator may need to establish procedures for determining
used at an entry lane until it has been read at an exit lane.). which agency collects the payment from the parking patron,
how payment will eventually be made to the airport enter-
Key Considerations prise, and what fees the airport operator will have to pay
Those identified by airport operators include other agencies to process the transactions.
7. Clearinghouse fees should be considered. Agencies respon-
1. In areas where toll tags are issued by a regional transporta- sible for administering the AVI/RFID system typically
tion agency, the airport operator should acquire readers charge the airport enterprise (and other customers) admin-
for those tags rather than issuing its own tags. istrative fees of between 3% and 6% of gross revenues for
2. For readable distance and read zones, care must be taken the tasks they perform. These tasks include collecting fees,
in the "tuning" and placement of AVI readers or antennae paying credit card fees (often 2% to 3% of transaction rev-
to assure that only tags in vehicles in a designated lane are enue), providing locations or websites where customers can
read, and to avoid reading tags in vehicles in adjacent open accounts and receive tags, and maintaining customer
lanes, which would result in multiple reads. accounts and account records.
3. Driver expectations when using toll tags should be recog- 8. If a system is configured to read AVI tags at a parking
nized. One U.S. airport operator found that some cus- entry plaza, the revenue control system should not issue
tomers expect that their regional toll tags would be used at a parking ticket for that vehicle. One airport operator
the airport in the same manner as they are used on regional reported that if a ticket is issued to a patron using an
toll facilities--i.e., they expect to be able to drive through AVI tag, the ticket may become lost because the patron
a toll lane without stopping, and may not expect to find is not required to use it to exit the parking facility (the
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Category E: Cashierless Transactions 93
revenue control system uses the AVI tag to calculate the Airport-issued tags for parking access (as opposed to tags
fee based on when the tag was read at the entry to the issued by a regional toll road or bridge agency) are used at
parking facility). Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Implementation Costs
E.4 IntelliDrive
The incremental cost of adding AVI readers to an existing
revenue control system is provided in Appendix A. In deter- Purpose
mining this cost, it was assumed that incorporation of the
IntelliDrive, formerly known as the Vehicle Infrastructure
AVI reader does not require significant upgrade or modifica-
Integration (VII) Program, is a U.S.DOT-sponsored research
tion to the revenue control system, which would result in addi-
program intended to develop technologies that improve the
tional costs.
ability of drivers and vehicles to avoid, or reduce the impact
Typical costs incurred will also include those for software of, collisions. The overall goal of the program is to reduce the
modification to the revenue control system to allow for the traffic crash rate by 90% by 2030.
storage of the AVI/RFID tag numbers of those tags authorized
to use the system. Use by Customers
The focus of the research is to examine existing, emerging,
Ongoing O&M Costs
and future technologies that allow vehicles to exchange infor-
Specific O&M costs include those for maintenance of tag mation with other vehicles and roadway infrastructure and
readers, administrative staffing costs, and (if necessary) staff "take over" vehicle control so that vehicles avoid collisions.
time to coordinate with any regional collection agency. In the near-term, research is expected to focus on applica-
tions that use dedicated short-range communication (DSRC)
Implementation Schedule to transmit information among multiple vehicles and between
AVI/RFID reader installations at airports have usually been a vehicle and roadway infrastructure. DSRC includes radio-
implemented as part of a larger parking revenue control system frequency identification (RFID), a technology currently in use
upgrade where other components of the system were the prin- for vehicle toll collection.
cipal drivers of the schedule. Revenue control systems can take Some European automobile manufacturers are already
approximately 18 to 36 months to install depending on con- installing RFID tags during production and, as part of
tract processing and vendor availability. IntelliDrive, it is anticipated that, eventually, all manufacturers
will install RFID tags on every new automobile as part of the
Supporting and Complementary Strategies assembly process.
and Technologies in This Guidebook
It is expected that airport operators will be able to use
AVI/RFID readers can be implemented as part of a revenue IntelliDrive technology in a fashion similar to the way AVI
control system upgrade or replacement. Complementary tags or proximity cards (see Sections E.3 and E.5) are used.
strategies and technologies include
· All value-added parking products in Category B, Benefits
· Credit Card In/Out (E.2), In addition to the benefits afforded by AVI, IntelliDrive
· IntelliDrive (E.4), and technologies may also provide
· License Plate Recognition (E.6).
· The ability to collect fees for the use of airport roadways
Examples of Application (including the curbsides).
· The ability to communicate space availability (by facility),
AVI technology is used at numerous U.S. airports for the parking rates, directional guidance, or other information
management and control of commercial ground transporta- directly to vehicles equipped with on-board GPS or equiv-
tion vehicles. Airports where regional toll tags are accepted for alent systems.
payment of public parking fees include those serving Albany, · The ability to operate a ticketless parking system.
Dallas (Love Field), Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston (Bush Inter- · Potentially improved vehicle tracking and locating within
continental and Hobby), Newark, New York (Kennedy and large parking facilities (or the enhanced ability to use nested
LaGuardia), Orlando, and San Francisco. parking areas).
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94 Guidebook for Evaluating Airport Parking Strategies and Supporting Technologies
· Improved tracking of airport-operated shuttle buses and signal "broadcast" by the proximity card and opens the gate.
other vehicles. To exit, parking patrons drive to an exit gate and perform the
· Information regarding customer frequency, facility use, same operation. The same proximity card may also be used for
and other metrics. pedestrian access, as patrons return to their parked vehicles.
After reading the card, the revenue control system calculates
Key Considerations the fee, charges the amount to an account associated with the
card, and opens the exit gate.
As a future initiative, no specific considerations have been
identified by airport operators. It is anticipated that consider-
Benefits
ations will be similar to those associated with the use of AVI
or regional toll tags for parking fee payment (Section E.3), as Potential reduction in exit delays, reduction or elimination
well as overall considerations associated with the IntelliDrive of required staffed exit lanes, and reduced opportunity for theft
effort, such as privacy. or fraud resulting from staff handling of cash. To date, prox-
imity card applications for airport parking facilities have been
Some experts expect that, within 10 years, a sufficient share
primarily limited to employee parking and access to special
of the vehicle fleet will have IntelliDrive technology installed
public parking products.
to support the use of parking access and revenue control sys-
tems compatible with such technology.
Implementation Actions
Supporting and Complementary Strategies Implementation actions include
and Technologies in This Guidebook
1. Determine if proximity cards are the best solution for
· All value-added parking products in Category B, access control for a particular application.
· In-Vehicle Parking Technologies (D.10), and 2. Determine if the existing revenue control system or access
· License Plate Recognition (E.6). control computing system can incorporate proximity card
readers; work with system vendor to activate the capability.
Examples of Application 3. Assure that card readers function properly and reliably,
and are well maintained.
Components of the IntelliDrive research effort, such as
RFID tags, are currently in use at numerous airports as part of
Key Considerations
automatic vehicle identification for commercial vehicles and
at a limited number of airports where regional toll tags are Those identified by airport operators include
accepted for parking payment. Some aspects of IntelliDrive,
1. Develop procedures for managing control of the proxim-
such as automated collision avoidance, are in the testing phase,
ity cards to ensure that they are held only by those author-
while others, such as automated vehicle control on highways,
ized to use them. For example, one U.S. airport operator
are many years away from implementation. As an airport park-
expressed concern that airport tenants issuing proximity
ing technology, it is believed that aspects of the IntelliDrive
cards to employees for airport-operated parking lots could
technology will become useful once a certain portion of the
not ensure that the cards were returned when the employee
vehicle fleet is equipped with RFID tags.
no longer worked for the tenant.
2. Participation by airport staff representing parking opera-
tions, audit/finance, IT, and engineering throughout the
E.5 Proximity Cards
design and (if necessary) vendor selection process.
Purpose 3. Program for assuring system reliability. Customers may be
discouraged from using the system if the readers are fre-
Control access to specific parking facilities or products.
quently out of service.
Increase revenue security by eliminating the opportunity for
4. When issuing cards, establish time/date block controls
employees to handle cash.
limiting length of time cards are valid.
Use by Customers Implementation Costs
Customers entering the parking facilities, instead of pulling The cost of implementing a proximity card system varies
tickets at the entry plaza, hold proximity cards, similar in size depending on whether it is part of a large parking revenue
to a credit card, within two feet of a reader, which receives a control system upgrade or if it is a stand-alone project. The
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Category E: Cashierless Transactions 95
number of proximity cards to be issued is a key consideration
since the costs of the readers at the entry and exit gates is rel-
atively fixed (for a given peak period flow rate) while the
number of cards to be issued can vary widely depending on
the number of customers, the marketing program, and other
factors. Other than employee parking facilities, most airport
applications do not require large numbers of proximity cards;
therefore, the per-card cost will be higher than for installa-
tions requiring thousands of cards.
Typical costs will also include those for the acquisition of
proximity card readers, potential entry/exit plaza modifi-
cations, and software modifications to the revenue control
system to allow for the storage of the identity numbers asso-
ciated with each card authorized to use the system. Unit costs
for proximity cards and the card readers are provided in
Appendix A.
Ongoing O&M Costs Source: Jacobs Consultancy.
O&M costs include those for equipment maintenance Figure E.5. Exit verifier with
(whether performed by the vendor or airport staff) and staff proximity card reader at
Dublin Airport.
responsible for managing the proximity card program.
An additional cost item includes staff time to manage and
control the cards (i.e., frequently verifying that cards are held
E.6 License Plate Recognition
by authorized users).
Purpose
Implementation Schedule Improve revenue security by matching license plates to
issued tickets (reducing or eliminating ticket swapping).
Proximity card installations at airports have usually been
When used as a substitute for a parking ticket, improve cus-
implemented as part of a larger parking revenue control sys-
tomer service by reducing exit plaza delays and reduce num-
tem upgrade where other components of the system were the
ber of required exit lanes and reliance on exit cashiers.
principal drivers of the schedule.
Use by Customers
Supporting and Complementary Strategies
and Technologies in This Guidebook License plate recognition (LPR), or automatic number
plate recognition, is typically a complementary technology to
Proximity card systems can be implemented as part of a
other parking payment systems. At present it is rarely used as
revenue control system upgrade or replacement. Comple-
the primary method of identifying entering/exiting vehicles
mentary strategies and technologies include
because of the current accuracy rates and other factors (e.g.,
· All value-added parking products in Category B, the variety of license plates to be read), but is used to support
· License Plate Recognition (E.6), and other technologies.
· Advertising Sales--Interior, Exterior, Tickets, and Equip-
As a customer enters a parking facility and stops to pull a
ment (F.6).
ticket, the LPR system records a digital image of the customer's
license plate. Optical character recognition (OCR) software
Examples of Application
"reads" the license plate number and codes the number into
Airports with proximity card systems include those the ticket before the ticket is issued to the customer. As a cus-
serving Seattle-Tacoma and other U.S. airports, as well as tomer exits the facility and stops at the exit gate, the LPR sys-
many throughout Europe, including Dublin Airport (see tem records a second digital image of the license plate and the
Figure E.5). OCR software again "reads" the license plate number. If the
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96 Guidebook for Evaluating Airport Parking Strategies and Supporting Technologies
license plate number matches that coded into the parking of LPR (capital and O&M costs) are not justified if the air-
ticket, the vehicle is allowed to exit upon payment of the park- port has a well-run parking operation.
ing fee. If the plate numbers do not match, typically the vehi- 2. Identify system accuracy goals.
cle is not allowed to exit until a supervisor or other staff 3. Determine requirements for integration with the existing
confirm that the plates were correctly read. or planned parking revenue control system.
4. Once a parking revenue control system has been selected,
One airport operator uses LPR in conjunction with a park- for each entry and exit lane identify the location of cam-
ing reservations system. When customers make their parking eras and lighting fixtures.
reservations online, they enter their license plate numbers 5. Conduct in-field testing for final adjustments to the loca-
along with their payment information. When the vehicle tions for cameras and lighting fixtures.
enters the parking facility, the LPR system reads the license
plate and opens the entry gate. Key Considerations
Another airport operator uses LPR to assist patrons in Those identified by airport operators include
locating their vehicles upon returning from a trip. As part of
the overnight inventory software, the parking space location 1. Accuracy. An airport operator will need to determine the
level of accuracy required of the LPR system to meet its
is automatically linked to each vehicle's license plate number.
needs. Currently, accuracy of LPR installations in the United
When a customer pays their parking fees at a pay-on-foot sta-
States varies, and is often 90% or lower. Most operators use
tion, the revenue control system reads the LPR-coded license
staff (on a full-time basis or those also assigned other duties)
plate on the ticket, looks up where the customer parked using
to monitor the LPR system and, as needed, enter license
the overnight inventory, and prints the vehicle location on
plate numbers if the LPR system cannot successfully read a
the parking ticket. Alternatively, a customer can insert their
plate number.
ticket into a reader and determine their vehicle location (e.g.,
There is a trade-off between the ability to identify a
if a customer plans to pay at the exit).
unique vehicle and the ability to read a license plate. The
probability that a unique vehicle is being identified increases
Benefits geometrically with each additional digit captured, as it is
unlikely that another vehicle will have the same combina-
· Significantly reduced ability of patrons to "swap tickets" or
tion of numbers and/or letters. However, the read time and
engage in other fraudulent activity to avoid paying parking effort also increases with each additional digit recognition
charges. LPR systems can help the parking operator identify required. Thus, some airport operators accept four or five
customers who may attempt to exit with a stolen or fraudu- digits as a match rather than requiring the entire plate to
lent ticket. This is accomplished by matching the exiting match.
vehicle's license plate number (and, in certain instances, the The level of accuracy increases when the system is
entire vehicle image) with that of the entering vehicle as required to match additional digits (e.g., 3, 4, or 5 of the
coded on the parking ticket recorded at the time of entry by 6 digits on a license plate).
the LPR system, and detaining suspicious vehicles until the Some LPR system vendors are supplementing their
mismatch can be resolved by a supervisor. technology with a system that captures images of a larger
· Potentially increased customer service by helping cus- portion of each vehicle. These images are used, in combi-
tomers locate their vehicles within a large parking facility. nation with the identified license plate number, to increase
· In Europe, some tax bureaus require that a parking ticket the ability of the system to accurately match a vehicle to an
or receipt display the vehicle's license plate number to individual parking ticket.
enable the cost of parking to be claimed as a business 2. License plate variety. In Europe, vehicle license plates vary
expense. LPR technology can automatically print a vehi- less than in the United States. Most European plates con-
cle's license number on the ticket or receipt. sist of black text on a solid background color, have consis-
tent fonts and font sizes, and must be mounted on both
Implementation Actions the front and back of the vehicle. This consistency allows
for very high accuracy of LPR systems.
Implementation actions include
In the United States, each state (as well as the District of
1. Estimate parking revenue lost due to ticket swapping and Columbia) issues its own license plates and most states
other fraud preventable by LPR technology. Conduct a issue a large variety of license plates that may use different
cost-benefit analysis to determine if LPR is financially jus- fonts and colors, incorporate non-alphanumeric sym-
tifiable. Some airport operators have found that the costs bols, have words (i.e., Pearl Harbor Survivor), or varying
OCR for page 97
Category E: Cashierless Transactions 97
background images. In addition, many airports attract
patrons from nearby states. It is possible for two vehicles
from adjacent states to have the same license plate num-
ber (particularly with vanity plates). This wide variety of
potential license plate styles reduces an LPR system's abil-
ity to read accurately.
3. Lighting. The intensity and angle of light illuminating
a license plate can affect LPR accuracy. One operator
reported that during a 5-minute period each day when the
sun is at a certain angle, glare makes it extremely difficult
for the LPR cameras and OCR system to successfully read
license plates.
4. Obscured plates. Mud, snow, salt, or dirt reduces the abil-
Source: Jacobs Consultancy.
ity of an LPR system to accurately read license plates.
License plates installed in nonstandard locations (e.g., on Figure E.6a. Entry gate and license plate recognition
a tail gate of a truck) may be out of camera range. Trailer camera at Dublin Airport.
hitches and other objects may block the camera sight line.
The use of infrared cameras is reported to improve accu-
racy when plates are obscured by dirt, mud, or reflections.
Implementation Costs
Typically, LPR systems have been installed as part of a new
revenue control system installation or an upgrade. Unit costs
for key components are provided in Appendix A.
Ongoing O&M Costs
Typically O&M costs are combined with other parking
operations, management, and maintenance costs. Additional Source: Jacobs Consultancy.
cost items may include staff time to monitor the LPR system
and manually enter or accept a license plate number (if the Figure E.6b. License plate recognition cameras at
system is unable to automatically read a plate). Toronto Pearson International Airport.
· All cashierless transactions in Category E or other payment
Implementation Schedule
systems where an operator may wish to have a vehicle
Typically, LPR systems are installed as part of a larger license plate coded onto the ticket issued to the vehicle.
revenue control system installation or upgrade. As such, it is
likely that other elements of the system will dictate the imple- Examples of Application
mentation schedule.
License plate recognition is used at the airports serving
Atlanta, Birmingham, Boston, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham,
Supporting and Complementary Strategies San Francisco, Washington, DC (Dulles), Toronto, London
and Technologies in This Guidebook (Heathrow and Gatwick), Birmingham (U.K.), Manchester
(U.K.), and Dublin (see Figures E.6a and E.6b).
LPR technology can be implemented as part of a revenue
control system upgrade or replacement. Complementary
strategies and technologies include
E.7 Cellular Telephone/Pay by Cell
· All value-added parking products in Category B and any
Purpose
product where customers must enter a special (or nested)
access-controlled area, Improve customer service by increasing payment options,
· Space Locators (D.9), and reducing reliance on exit cashiers, and eliminating customer
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98 Guidebook for Evaluating Airport Parking Strategies and Supporting Technologies
need to carry coins (for parking facilities with parking meters). credit cards, transmit payments to the airport enterprise,
Increase revenue security by eliminating the opportunity for and provide real-time information regarding the vehicles
employees to handle cash. for which parking fees have been paid.
2. Market and promote the service.
3. Monitor usage during a trial period to determine the via-
Use by Customers
bility of the service. Prepare a cost-benefit analysis to deter-
Pay by cell is predominantly used by municipalities for on- mine whether to continue offering a pay-by-cell option.
street parking operations and parking facilities that are not
gate controlled. One airport operator currently offers this pay- Key Considerations
ment option.
Applicability to an airport's parking operation is a factor.
Currently, there is one predominant pay-by-cell method Airport operators offering prepaid metered parking may find
for paying parking fees. Customers approach parking meters that pay by cell enhances customer level of service by offering
or pay stations and dial a number displayed at the meter/ increased payment options and the ability to pay for addi-
station. Once connected and after setting up an account tional time without needing to return to the parking space to
linked to a credit card, customers enter the space number and "feed the meter." Pay-by-cell systems may be less applicable
the amount of time they wish to purchase. Customers can dial at airports where in-lane payment technologies are used.
the same number to either pay for additional time or, if they
return to their vehicles without having parked for the full Implementation Costs
time they paid for, receive credit for unused time. Other pos- To date, a pay-by-cell parking system has been imple-
sible pay-by-cell methods include mented at only one airport. Municipalities that have installed
· Upon returning to a pay station, customers insert their such a system report that implementation costs approxi-
tickets. When the fee is displayed, customers dial a number mately $5,000 to make arrangements with the pay-by-cell
to indicate that payment should be charged to an account company and post the appropriate notices on parking meters.
linked to a credit card.
· The cell phone can display a bar code that is read by an Ongoing O&M Costs
optical scanning device at the pay-station/meter. Based on municipality experience with pay-by-cell sys-
· The cell phone can function as an RFID tag or proximity tems, it is expected that O&M costs would be low and would
card that, when placed near a pay station or meter, is read be directly related to use of the system. Thus, O&M costs
and recorded. (See Section E.3 for further discussion of could be covered by a per-transaction fee (pay-by-cell sys-
RFID payment systems, and Section E.5 for further discus- tems serving municipal parking facilities often charge cus-
sion of proximity card payment systems.) tomers a transaction fee).
Benefits Implementation Schedule
Airport operators and parking technology vendors believe The schedule to implement pay by cell will depend on
that pay by cell is best used in situations where patrons pay coordination with the third-party receiving the pay-by-cell
for parking at parking meters or pay stations and are required calls and the time required to integrate the pay-by-cell system
to pre-pay for parking (such as at an on-street parking meter). with the existing parking revenue control system.
This technology has limited stand-alone application in an air-
port environment where gated revenue-control is common. Supporting and Complementary Strategies
However, pay by cell could be added as a payment option for and Technologies in This Guidebook
pay-on-foot systems (see Section E.1) and it would support
In an airport environment, it is expected that pay by
the benefits typically realized through the use of pay-on-foot
cell could be implemented to support pay-on-foot systems
revenue control.
(Section E.1).
Implementation Actions
Examples of Application
Implementation actions could include
Currently, customers using the South Terminal parking lot
1. Enter into a business arrangement with a third party that at Vancouver International Airport are allowed to pay by cell.
will receive the pay-by-cell phone calls, charge patron Several municipalities use pay by cell as a payment method
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Category E: Cashierless Transactions 99
for on-street parking. The vendor providing the pay-by-cell in-car meters enhance customer level-of-service by offer-
service at Vancouver International Airport is unaware of any ing increased payment options, and requiring that cus-
other airports where a similar service is provided. tomers pay only for the exact amount of time they parked.
2. The size of the parking operation. In-car meters rely on
enforcement to ensure that meters are properly displayed
and that sufficient credit is available on the smart card.
E.8 In-Car Meters
Airport operators with large parking facilities may find it
Purpose expensive to monitor large numbers of in-car meters.
3. Limitations. Use may be limited to those communities or
Improve customer service by increasing payment options,
regions that have deployed this technology and where
requiring that customers pay only for the exact amount of
most motorists have in-car meters.
time they parked, eliminating customer need to carry coins
(for parking facilities with parking meters). Increase revenue Ongoing O&M Costs
security and reduce operating expenses compared to conven-
tional parking meters and pay stations. Staff O&M costs are anticipated to be lower than for con-
ventional metered parking operations because the entire sys-
tem is located within a patron's vehicle and no on-street
Use by Customers equipment is required.
In-car meters are typically used for on-street parking and
parking facilities that are not gate controlled. Customers Supporting and Complementary Strategies
obtain a small display device that can be hung in a visible loca- and Technologies in This Guidebook
tion inside the car (such as the rear view mirror or attached to
the inside of a window). Upon parking, the customer activates · Valet Parking (B.1, B.2, and B.3) and
the display device by inserting a smart card that has a pre- · Advertising Sales--Interior, Exterior, Tickets, and Equip-
loaded dollar amount. While the vehicle is parked, the display ment (F.6).
device deducts value from the smart card at the advertised cost
per unit of time. When the customer returns to the vehicle, the Examples of Application
smart card is removed from the display device. Customers are Currently, in-car meters for the payment of parking fees have
able to add value to the smart card as needed. not been implemented at any airports. Several municipalities
In-car meters are predominantly used by municipalities for use in-car meters as a payment method for on-street parking.
on-street parking. As such, no airport operators have offered
this payment option and there is limited information available
regarding implementation, schedule, and cost considerations. E.9 In-Lane Processing
Purpose
Benefits
Improve customer service by reducing processing time at
In-car meters appear to be best used in situations where the exit booth. Reduce number of required exit lanes.
patrons pay for parking at parking meters or pay stations and
are required to prepay for their parking (such as at an on-street
Use by Customers
parking meter). Airports that implement this technology may
realize lower O&M costs because in-car meters require no In-lane processing is predominantly used by businesses,
equipment, such as parking meters or pay stations. However, such as drive-through restaurants, to collect needed informa-
this technology has limited stand-alone application in an air- tion from a customer (i.e., the customer's order) while the
port environment where gated revenue-control is common. customer is queued to minimize processing time once the
customer reaches the cashier. At airports, rental car compa-
nies frequently use this approach to process customers as they
Key Considerations
return their vehicles; in-lane processing allows customers to
Key considerations include proceed directly from their vehicles to the terminal.
1. Applicability to an airport's parking operation. Airport While customers are queued at an exit lane, a "roving
operators offering pre-paid metered parking may find that cashier" with a mobile ticket reader and credit card processor
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100 Guidebook for Evaluating Airport Parking Strategies and Supporting Technologies
approaches drivers in their vehicles to read their parking tick- Key Considerations
ets, calculate parking fees, collect payment, issue receipts, and
recode the tickets. When customers reach the exit gate arm, they In-lane processing appears to have limited utility as an air-
put their tickets into an exit verifier, which then opens the gate. port parking technology. The benefit of reduced exit lane
requirements is similar to the benefit that can be realized by
In-lane processing for parking is used at events (e.g., con- pay-on-foot systems, but without the additional potential
certs and sporting events) having pronounced peak periods benefit of reduced staffing requirements.
to reduce entry/exit delays and improve customer service, but
parking at these events is typically prepaid, one set fee, and Few airport operators have adopted in-lane cashiering be-
cash only. cause of the advent of reliable pay-on-foot and credit card
in/out technologies, and the need to acquire specialized equip-
ment to facilitate in-lane cashiering.
Benefits
Reduces the number of required exit lanes and reduces exit
Supporting and Complementary Strategies
delays by allowing the simultaneous processing of multiple
and Technologies in This Guidebook
vehicles in the same exit lane.
· Holiday/Overflow Parking (A.9) or other parking products
It is likely that in-lane processing would not result in a sig-
that require customers to pay a fixed fee regardless of their
nificant reduction in average total transaction time for a cus-
parking duration.
tomer because the transaction time in-lane would be similar
to that at a typical cashiered exit booth and the time required
to open the gate would not change significantly. Examples of Application
For airports with a limited number of exit lanes, con- No airport operators use in-lane processing of parking
strained physical space to add more exit lanes, and standard patrons on a regular basis. This strategy has been used at
cashier-based revenue controls, in-lane processing could be holiday/overflow lots when the airport operator established a
used during peak periods where exiting volumes exceed the flat fee for parking (i.e., rather than a duration-based fee) and
capacity of the exit lanes, resulting in excessive vehicle queues. could thus collect the fee from entering motorists. In-lane
Under such conditions, in-lane processing increases the processing is used for parking at special events and in other
capacity of the exit lanes (in proportion to the number of rov- industries, such as drive-through restaurants, airport rental
ing cashiers) without increasing the number of exit lanes. car facilities, and airline baggage check counters.
