LAX ‘Smart Parking’ Contract Approved by Board of Airport Commissioners
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners voted Thursday morning to approve a contract with ABM Aviation Inc. to provide “smart parking” services – including valet and online reservation options – at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the FlyAway bus terminal in Van Nuys.
Chief Executive Officer of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), Justin Erbacci, said:The new smart parking solution coming to LAX and the FlyAway terminal at VNY will transform the airport parking experience, providing our passengers and guests with more convenient, efficient and customized parking services. This innovative solution also will enable significant improvements such as streamlined entry and exit, contactless payment, clear wayfinding to open spaces, plentiful electronic vehicle charging, and will offer additional services that our guests have told us they want, such as advance reservations and valet parking. Smart parking is a key component in our overall digital marketplace strategy and our overall vision to create a more seamless, digital and touch-free airport experience.
The garages in the Central Terminal Area (CTA) at LAX were built between the 1960s and 1980s. They have not changed significantly, other than the recent conversion of several structures to an automated payment system and the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in a few of the structures. Customers using four of the eight garages still pull a ticket to enter the structure, and then must line up at a cashier booth to pay before leaving the airport. The new smart parking infrastructure will modernize those elements.
The new and improved services that LAWA will offer include:
- Guidance/wayfinding signage so guests can find the right parking option. Guidance and wayfinding will be on roadways approaching the airport, at the entrance of garages and every floor identifying parking availability at each level, with light indicators above each parking spot.
- Automated parking infrastructure to include automated gates and contactless payment functionality, automated license plate readers, credit card and bar code readers, and pay-on-foot machines.
- Significantly enhanced user experience includes the ability for parking guests to more easily and more conveniently find the best value and parking product for their trip. Guests will be able to pre-book parking online, make their choice of parking garage, parking product and even designate level and specific space.
- EV parking offerings to enhance LAWA’s commitment to green programs. Guests will have the option to reserve EV parking online, and pay their EV fees through a one-step payment process for parking and EV charging based on actual kilowattage used, where applicable.
- Valet parking that will be available as a premium product for guests to simply drive up and leave the parking to the parking operator.
One of the biggest improvements will be guidance signage to indicate where open spaces are available. Prior to the recent reduction in flight demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, motorists would often have to circle through several levels or move on to another garage to find a space. As the structures would fill up, it was difficult to communicate the availability of spaces beyond “full” signs at the entrances and updates on the FlyLAX.com website and via the automated @FlyLAXstats Twitter feed.
The smart parking program will also lead to LAX parking garages having the largest integrated installation of EV chargers among U.S. airports, with 10 percent of the spaces (1,250) equipped for electric vehicle charging.
In addition to modernizing all of the current parking decks at LAX and the Van Nuys FlyAway terminal garage at 7610 Woodley Ave., the contract includes services at the approximately 4,300-space structure that will open in 2021 at the Intermodal Transportation Facility (ITF)-West, located between 96th Street and Westchester Parkway, east of the CTA.
The seven-year contract with ABM totals a maximum of $303.3 million, and includes two one-year options. The Board of Airport Commissioners also approved appropriation of $43.3 million in capital funds to pay for infrastructure upgrades needed to bring the smart parking services to the structures. Some of the services are expected to be available in summer 2021.
As a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles, LAWA receives no general tax funding and is responsible for its own budget. Revenue generated by parking is among its largest funding streams. Over the course of the seven-year contract, the gross revenue for LAWA is estimated at $948.7 million.
This article was originally published by Los Angeles World Airports.
