TPA parking garages getting upgraded ticket technology

Tampa International Airport's latest technology upgrade is just the ticket for quicker and easier movement into and out of all of TPA's parking garages.

New ticket dispensers at all garage entrances and payment machines at garage exits are currently being installed at Short Term, Long Term and Economy. The updated touchscreen machines are state-of-the-art and are designed to make arriving and leaving a smooth and speedy experience.

The machinery is manufactured by Designa and on exit will now allow tap and pay and payment methods such as Apple Pay.

"This upgrade of the ticketing equipment in our parking garages is part of our continuous efforts to enhance our guest experience," TPA Vice President of Concessions & Commercial Parking Laurie Noyes said. "Our travelers will now be able to begin and end their trips with the latest technology, delivering more convenient and efficient access to and from our parking garages."

Among the many improvements are modern license plate readers that will scan car tags on the way into and out of the garage.

If the traveler has pre-booked parking at TampaAirport.com/Park and provided their license plate at time of booking, the traveler will not have to scan the QR code when entering the garage as the system will read their license plate. When the driver comes back from their trip on time, they will be able to drive to the exit kiosk where the plate will be scanned again and open the exit arm automatically, without having to provide the QR code again.

The process will work similarly for a driver who leaves within the one-hour grace period for free parking at any garage. They will pull a ticket at the entrance, and if their stay is less than 60 minutes, the license plate scanner will tell the exit arm to raise without the driver having to provide the ticket.

Replacing all the machinery will take a few weeks while people who parked with tickets using the old equipment filter out of the garages. The entire replacement at all three garages, which involves swapping out 18 ticket dispensers and 18 payment machines, is scheduled to be completed in October. Employee parking areas will also receive new equipment with new and improved features.