How an Airport “Waived” Goodbye to a PARCS RFP

 

By Mike Maromaty, CAPP

We have components of an aging PARCS that are end-of-life, and our backs were up against the wall to get it replaced as soon as possible. Our PARCS was installed in 2008, and for the most part, we’ve been happy with the performance of the equipment and our vendor. The COVID pandemic threw a giant wrench in our PARCS replacement plan, which is how we ended up in this position.

I’m sure many of you dread the thought of RFPs, even if you’re not completely satisfied with your PARCS vendor. As a county department, we have strict purchasing rules. However, we were able to utilize a “bid waiver” to procure new PARCS components from our current vendor without going through the RFP process. The bid waiver was approved through our governing processes as we were able to show significant cost savings and limited disruption by proving that the entire system did not need to be scrapped.

We excluded non-revenue-related equipment in the specifications (such as barrier gates, fixed LPR cameras, and HID-only devices) and focused on equipment that was critical to revenue generation, like entry ticket kiosks and exit verifiers. Our existing HID-only gates will integrate into the new system. Our justification outlined this vendor’s capability to install new exit devices that could process entry tickets from the legacy system. We’re hoping for a seamless transition with minimal impact on customer service and day-to-day operations.

Airport staff have a deep understanding of the current PARCS, which will help minimize training costs. We also perform the vast majority of maintenance in-house. Our Master Electricians maintain the parking equipment, which has allowed hardware failures to be resolved swiftly over the years.

Mike Maromaty, CAPP, is an Airport Parking Manager at Dane County Regional Airport. Mike can be reached at Maromaty.Michael@msnairport.com.