The San Antonio International Airport (SAT) unveiled new technology in its facilities that it said will make travelers’ parking experiences easier than ever. SAT is the first airport in the country to use Metropolis Technologies’ platform.
Metropolis technology will allow travelers to enter and exit the parking garage without the use of a ticket, check bags in the tunnel between the garage and terminal, and view and pay for parking in the garage before arriving.
Alex Israel is the co-founder and CEO of Metropolis. He said his company’s goal is to make parking easier.
“We recognized while technology is changing many aspects of our lives, parking remained hopelessly analog,” he said at Monday’s press conference. “It remains stagnant, inefficient, slow, riddled with tickets, concerns, and experiences we don't love in our day-to-day lives. It really holds back not only urban congestion, but it holds back our most precious aspect of our lives, which is time.”
Travelers at SAT will need to create an account with Metropolis, which will include their credit card information and license plate number.
Metropolis’ cameras will then take photos of the vehicle and the plate, which it uses to identify the vehicle and let it enter and exit its garages without the requiring the use of a ticket or manually paying with a credit card.
“You sign up one time in 40 seconds, and then every time you come back to San Antonio International Airport, you just drive in,” Israel said. “The gate automatically vends, you get a text message welcoming you back, and then when you leave, you just drive out.”
Travelers flying on American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier, United — and soon Southwest — can use Metropolis’ garage check-in process where they can check bags before even entering the airport terminal as long as they do so two hours or more before their scheduled take-off.
Travelers who already have a Metropolis account will not have to do anything extra in order to use the airport garages.
Currently, a number of Metropolis staff are present at the garage’s exit to help travelers understand the new system and to help those who entered the garage before Metropolis’ system went live last Friday. Israel said some staff will likely remain indefinitely in case there are ever issues with the parking gates.
But he said he was confident that the implementation of his company’s technology would go smoothly.
“There are almost 10 million members across the United States with credit card, license plate and phone numbers already on file,” he said. “We are the largest operator of this type of technology and parking in the United States. So while this may be the first airport, this is not the first time we've deployed this type of technology.”
Travelers will also now be able to use a reservation system to pay in advance for parking based on their departure and arrival dates. The system takes the departure and arrival times and gives travelers the price options for different types of parking options — short-term parking, fly away valet, long-term parking, or economy green.
Metropolis is a tech company that applies artificial intelligence capabilities to parking. Metropolis has become the largest garage network operator in the country through a handful of acquisitions since its founding in 2017. Its technology is in use at more than 4,000 locations across North America, including multiple in San Antonio.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) currently has an alert for the company that says it has a pattern of complaints related to service issues and billing/collection issues; these include consumer reports of excessive fines for unpaid parking — sometimes even when consumers said they paid for parking. Some customers reported receiving violations for vehicles not registered to them, and that even after they demonstrated they were properly registered still being told a fine was due.
BBB’s alert said they met with Metropolis representatives in March of this year but that the issues had not been addressed as of May 31. There is no more recent update available.
Metropolis responded to the BBB alert and complaints in a statement.
"At Metropolis, we care deeply about our customers and take complaints and feedback very seriously," the statement said. "We have thousands of five-star ratings, but know there’s always room for improvement. Our dedicated teams work hard to actively monitor and address feedback in real-time, striving to make each customer experience remarkable."
A spokesperson added that many of the complaints were likely related to garages the company no longer operates.
The spokesperson also said that disabled veterans who currently enjoy 30 days of free use of the economy and long-term garages will keep that perk under Metropolis' management.
"We are transitioning the process from manual to frictionless over the next quarter where disabled veterans will no longer be required to show multiple forms of identification - instead they'll be able to drive in and drive out once they become Metropolis members," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Israel said that Metropolis does not sell or share user data with third parties; users can also choose to opt-out of any possible data sharing on their account.
