Mineta San José International Airport (SJC) is taking a technology-based approach to improving its parking experience starting this fall.
The airport is implementing a new frictionless parking suite. It will use an advanced parking access and revenue control system (PARCS), license plate recognition (LPR) technology and other parking management tools to improve the user experience.
“Before the pandemic started, SJC was No. 1 in growth and hit record traffic,” said Keonnis Taylor Public Information Manager for SJC. “Parking was a challenge. We were running out of short-term parking and the parking control system was outdated.”
SJC will use SKIDATA’s Power.Gate system equipped with License Plate Recognition technology, barcode readers, HID, AVI, intercom and lighted Barrier Arms in 45 lanes. The technology will provide touch-free access to all parking levels for frequent and occasional travelers.
The system includes 15 SKiosk Smart Parking credit card machines and SKIDATA Sweb Services, including control, validate, reports and a wayfinding package.
SJC’s first stage of enhancing parking involved building a 1,200 space parking garage in Lot 1. It was completed in June 2021, with the SKIDATA system coming online next.
The new system features an integrated Command Center. This allows managers and operators to observe and manage the entire system from a single command point.
“It’s a cloud-based technology that gives SJC the ability to run their operations on an iPad,” SKIDATA Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing Chris Mckenty explains. “It’s more mobile and users can access it anywhere it the world. They can access the data and cameras. It gives them a lot of information about what’s going on.”
“Frictionless parking” means reducing the number of barriers related to parking to make it a more enjoyable experience for travelers. It ranges from implementation of reservation systems to reduce stress for travelers all the way to elimination of all physical barriers related to parking control in favor of automation.
SJC’s system will be integrated with SJC’s existing Transcore automatic vehicle identification system and with Chauntry’s Parkspace reservations platform.
Mckenty said the concept is popular in Europe to compete against off airport parking operators
“These improvements are important coming out of the pandemic,” Taylor said. “People are more accepting of touchless system. Our customers expect these types of innovations from us.”