Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is ranked 21st in the U.S. in total passenger traffic and 13th in domestic origin and destination passengers. There are more than 300 departure and 300 arrival flights a day. FLL offers nonstop service to more than 100 U.S. cities and flights to Canada, Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, Latin America, and Europe. FLL averages 621 commercial flights per day on 30 airlines and 125 private flights. Each day over 67,000 travelers pass through the four terminals at FLL and the majority of them needs to park their cars quickly and smoothly.
The airport organization is committed to providing ultimate customer service and differentiate itself for an unparalleled quality of service. The terminals are being modernized, adding gates for international and domestic destinations, and keeping delays to a minimum through a new runway which increases the number of take-offs and landings. Parking is an essential part of this commitment to their clients and this is why the airport organization has decided to restructure the parking facilities and further enhance them introducing new value solutions and technologies.
Each day at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport thousands of travelers pass through the four terminals at FLL. The garage complex has more than 12.000 spaces for hourly and daily parking. The Airport Organization wanted a ‘high availability’ Revenue Control Environment able to supply the features, functions, and management tools required to increase customer throughput and satisfaction levels within an expanding environment. HUB Parking Technology was selected by the Airport Organization as a strategic and trustworthy technology partner.
The project assigned contemplates several phases of implementation to introduce new revenue control equipment throughout the airport parking complex and install new and upgraded computer software, additional features and hardware, and networking equipment to improve customer service levels for patrons, employees, and tenants and the overall management of the parking facilities. A part of these enhancements is currently being implemented in a new upgrade.
HUB Parking Technology developed a web-based, highly scalable and flexible software solution which controls all the parking services and technologies for the management of their parking facilities. Thanks to HUB Parking Technology’s management system, the parking manager can now access anytime and anywhere the system and easily control all the equipment located in several lots from one centralized control panel and greatly improve operational efficiency. The system also provides advanced analytics and rapid reporting: real-time, ad-hoc, current state reporting and analysis of operational data such as occupancy monitoring, occupancy break down with monthly, transient, commercial and other customers, manage different variable fee structures, automate revenue reconciliation, and enforce staff accountability.
New state-of-art and user-friendly revenue control equipment has been installed which allows for enhanced control over payment collection and fraud avoidance and maximized customer service. Customer convenience was further improved by supporting SunPass as a payment option for valid SunPass account holders who use the airport’s parking facilities. They have an AVI transponder in their car, so they do not need to stop for tickets. Easy, fast and convenient.
A new vehicle control system in the employee lot allows for better management of employee parking resources. Efficiencies in lane management, labor requirements and fraud prevention were realized by minimizing manual intervention in processing payments.
An in-lane LPR system is being implemented to increase the efficiency of enforcement operations, secure revenue capture and provide additional administrative flexibility in parking management. Furthermore, it will help improve the users’ experience. At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport HUB Parking Technology is also about to install the first camera-based guidance system in an airport in the US. At every parking space the system will detect vehicles (red: occupied / green: vacant) and show available lots on LED displays. Benefits are multiple: dramatically reduced time to park while improving customer’s user experience, dynamic policy enforcement, improved security and customer service features. Another valuable advantage of this solution is the reduction in vehicle tailpipe emissions because drivers do not need to circle the garage to find parking. Driving and fuel use is consequently decreased. A Car Locator Application will also be integrated into the system: If customers don’t remember where their car is parked, they can simply launch the app and it will help them navigate their way back by showing their current location and the location of where they last parked their car.
Another key element which will soon be installed to provide clear guidance for drivers is a VMS System and count system, allowing reduced search and transit times and contribute to better traffic flows. HUB Parking Technology’s Revenue Control Management System is also integrating the valet parking application, providing the Parking Manager ad hoc reporting at his fingertips and will be able to monitor the complex coordination of vehicles to be parked and delivered, in order to make sure that customers are satisfied and operations run smoothly.
Another crucial feature which is currently being developed is the Online Reservation System which will enable clients to reserve and pre-pay for airport parking through a secure PCI-Compliant application. The operator is paid in advance, has full visibility on future pre booking activity in advance of arrivals and is able to offer flexible rates according to demand, enabling new revenue streams. The management system allows for the ability to automatically modify rates according to peak demands and to the parking area chosen to maximize profit.
HUB Parking Technology developed a flexible, comprehensive and easy to use solution which greatly improved the management and monitoring of parking operations and the ability to accurately track and report information, document revenues, efficiently utilize resources and provide flexibility in any future need to update, upgrade and expand the system. Parking facilities throughput dramatically improved and, thanks to the new system and the last upgrade which is being implemented, the Airport Organization will be able to offer their clients a premium quality of service and an impeccable and flawless parking experience, getting to terminals quickly and easily and with the peace of mind of always find their way back to their cars, in total security.