CHAPTER 5

Conclusion and Future Research Needs

5.1 Background and Objective of Synthesis

This synthesis examines U.S. airports’ use of OBSs that allow customers to reserve or prebook parking services. Given the importance of providing a positive customer experience and contributing to airport revenues, OBSs offer the advantage of guaranteed parking spaces and, for some airports, increased revenues.

Parking reservations are a relatively recent innovation at U.S. airports; this synthesis documents a range of management approaches to the use of OBSs, the challenges associated with implementing these systems, and the diverse range of benefits realized by their use at airports of different sizes and types.

5.2 Summary of Findings

Literature Review. Since OBSs are relatively new to U.S. airports, the existing literature on their implementation and use is limited. Past ACRP studies highlight three principal goals airports report for offering parking reservations. These are: (1) improved parking management, (2) providing customers with an elevated guest experience by offering a guaranteed space, especially during peak times at airports, and (3) potentially increasing airport revenues by converting airport customers from other access alternatives to airport parking. Other literature does inform practices such as yield management (increasing the net return on parking transactions), but the information found in this synthesis reveals that airports are only beginning to leverage that capability and adopt supporting business practices.

Survey Findings. The survey was distributed to 36 airports, with responses from 18 airport operators representing 20 airports. Results from the survey reveal that parking reservations have become an integral part of airport parking and ground transportation strategies. Overall, airports are satisfied with their OBSs and their ability to enable parking reservations, with 16 of 17 surveyed airports reporting being “satisfied” or “very satisfied” (note: The 18^th airport operator had, at the time of its survey, discontinued parking reservations). Airports report that the primary benefits of an OBS and parking reservation system include improving the customer experience, providing information on demand through future bookings, enabling improved utilization of parking facilities, and obtaining customer data that is then retained in airport CRM systems. Airports employ a variety of different management models to operate OBSs. There are also a wide range of operating and capital costs, as some are incorporated into larger contracts and others are separated and have operating cost recoveries through reservation transaction fees. Other OBS capabilities, including revenue management, leveraging CRM data to push offers to potential customers, and selling ancillary services such as car detailing and concession discounts, are used by smaller numbers of airports.

Airport Case Examples. Several criteria were used to select the five airports for the case examples, including having an active OBS and a willingness to be interviewed for the study. In addition, the scope for this synthesis included selecting a range of airports by size and by the degree to which they leveraged their OBS for revenue management and other strategies. Using these criteria, the five airports interviewed were PHX, DFW, MSY, GSP, and STS.

Challenges with implementation were reported by four of the five airports. Issues included integrating the OBS with airport PARCSs, introducing new parking validation mechanisms that permitted entry and exit from parking facilities, and maintaining inventory control, particularly ensuring that airport lots were not oversold, thus potentially creating a customer experience problem that parking reservations are designed to address.

All five airports recognized the principal benefit of providing a guaranteed space through a parking reservation. Airports also reported that obtaining future booking data enabled better planning and operation of their facilities.

While they are open to expanding the use of OBSs, airports reported that a cautious approach is generally taken, with some airports planning pilot tests before full-scale implementation. Three airports—PHX, DFW, and GSP—employ variable pricing (specifically discounting) and offer upgrades (e.g., from economy to premium parking) as strategies to increase revenues. Each of the three also reported that they are considering upgrading their revenue management strategies in some form. PHX, which today uses a contractor to manage their parking revenue, is looking to upgrade to dynamic pricing, allowing for fully tailored pricing for each unique customer. DFW and GSP are reviewing internal and external capabilities to determine the best way to upgrade their strategies.

5.3 Future Research

As the adoption of OBSs is still in its early stages at many U.S. airports, there is an accelerating interest in leveraging tools and strategies for revenue management and customer data insights. This synthesis outlines key changes in airport management priorities, such as enhancing the customer experience and generating additional revenue. Further research, based on the findings of this synthesis, could include the following:

• Issues with technology integrations. Airports face difficulties with integrating OBSs with PARCSs and deploying payment validation technologies, including QR code readers and LPRs. Airport management, in response, has adopted several mitigation strategies to account for and address these issues.
• Inventory control. Understanding current and future occupancies in facilities is a key issue for airport staff in determining how much parking inventory is allocated for parking reservations. To measure existing capacities, there appears to be a variety of approaches that include using transaction information from PARCS, parking guidance systems, and manual counting of cars. For estimating future occupancies, airports use past transaction histories and future bookings generated from the OBS.
• Leveraging CRM data. OBSs provide an opportunity to capture customer information regarding their addresses, airline/travel itineraries, and other information. These insights allow airports to engage with customers in new ways, including targeting offers through e-mail and social media accounts. Most of the surveyed airports indicated that they are just beginning to explore these data applications and capabilities.
• Revenue management. Strategies such as variable and dynamic pricing present airports with opportunities to augment revenue from parking, which is a primary income source for many U.S. airports. Understanding successful practices and the necessary decision-making frameworks to enhance revenue generation would be invaluable for the industry.