Hiding under the rug?
Starting any new role, no doubt you’ve discovered some puzzling protocols that presents itself as “that’s how is always been, don’t even go there or tried tackling this once, but the juice was to worth the squeeze”. Lifting the corner of a rug could be the thread of revealing new opportunities towards enabling sustainable growth, so let’s start with the housekeeping first.
Legacy parking systems can provide an ideal environment for hiding, unintentionally supporting uncontrolled &/or unauthorised access that becomes the new normal or no idea of how to tackle and attempt to unravel the ball of wool created - let’s get involved and re-take control.
Employee Parking in particular consistently presents a web of blurred lines in parking; many having multiple site, multiple access credentials with the ability to share/distribute (or profit), often unmonitored, unmeasured, unreported and therefore unintentionally contributing to blocked commercial opportunity. It is important to highlight in an airport environment, supporting 24/7-365, high-demand. on-call roles; Employees are Airport Business Critical to sustaining business continuity, rapid responses and recovery, often needing to get to the airport ASAP, qualifying for multi-access sites. However, these are justifiable, identified nominated roles and duly supported. Employees, across all airport stakeholders are essential to the smooth running of the airport, yet focus towards passengers are the priority - bringing travel demand and commercial value to the airport’s sustainable growth.
The introduction of a quality Parking Management & Revenue Control System (PARCS) or Car Park Management System (CPMS) or simply a refresh on campus site utilisation is the timely opportunity to review, refine and validate Employee Parking access, across all roles. Creating a broad Parking Strategy incorporating the demands of the day, alongside known developments and long-term opportunity is the chance to tailor available capacity, seeking to minimise any disruption to employees commuter journeys, consolidate parking areas and retain a degree of growth, underpinned by an effective parking policy, fit & functional for all.
Legacy conditions can present a perception of entitlement; unchallenged will cause a friction & frustration throughout the ranks, prompting unintended opportunity to find an alternative (hidden) ways to promote individual parking preferences, i.e. explore the gaps or loop holes. Although parking at the airport remains fairly consistent, the needs of passengers and employee groups can be significantly different, holding a variety of competing priorities, each influencing the airport experience and ultimately their retention.
Creating a clear Parking Strategy with a supporting Parking Policy will provide parity (enable flexibility for reasonable or practical adjustments) and transparency of where individuals are authorised to park, including alternative/contingency (overflow) options, that may facilitate the prospect of a paid parking upgrade(s). Providing dedicated parking areas for Employees can present a ‘Fast Track’ access routes to the campus parking areas and a connecting shuttle service. Where possible, Terminal curbside pick-up & drop-off points are set in a distinctive areas from primary passenger products, reducing curbside congestion & potential conflict between Employees & Passengers, progressing to common areas against the clock.
From larger international airports, through to regional hubs, each will have their complexities and preferences related to Employee Parking. Empowering a change culture and mindset shift towards sustainable, smoother airport journeys with opportunities to unlock commercial growth, can be a revelation. Creating a sound parking strategy will be the first-step towards improved parking utilisation, unlocking untapped capacity to serve the airports successes better, using quality PARCS/CPMS tools to enable authorised access, meeting the demands of the stakeholders will ensure lost revenue is stopped, with data driven decisions to continuously refine and optimise available capacity.
Lifting the rug on legacy access will reveal a wealth of undiscovered (or undisclosed) opportunity to optimize, develop & enable growth.
Who gets to park where? Creating a Parking Strategy that is fit & functional for today, tomorrow & forecasted future demands.
Access to Balanced & Controlled parking areas, bringing both Employees & Passengers closer to the Terminal or workplace area.