Aspen airport reopens with new parking system

Aspen-Pitkin County Airport travelers were greeted Monday with a new parking system after the spring closure of the airport for repairs. 

The Bear and Elk lots, the two overnight parking lots available to Aspen airport travelers, are now equipped with automatic license plate readers and a new payment system. 

The license plate reading technology and payment is provided by Metropolis, a company that operates 4,500 parking lot payment facilities across the country. Their services have been contracted for the Aspen airport. 

The readers will automatically read license plates upon entering the parking lots. Users can then use their phone to pay for parking by scanning QR codes that are posted around the parking lot.

Airport employees were told to sign up for the system during the airport closure, ensuring their first use of the new system was easy and quick. According to TSA Supervisor Quinderius Allen, who was working on Monday, the changes have been a welcome change to employees as they make the parking process quicker. 

Unlike phone-based pay to park systems that exist in the Roaring Fork Valley, airport parkers will not find themselves responsible for large parking tickets if they forget to sign up for payment on their way into the airport. 

“When you drive in, the cameras start your visit,” said Ed Krafcik, vice president of Aviation at Metropolis. “If you don’t do it and you’re in a rush to go to the plane, all you have to do is sign up before you get back. If all that fails, and you get to the exit Plaza, you have a little QR code there, and you can pay just without becoming a member.”

Drivers can register with Metropolis in advance. Once drivers leave the airport, the credit card they have associated with their license plate online will automatically be charged for their stay. Notably, a password is not required for the new system, so new and returning users will be able to sign in with their phone number.

Georgeann Nikolich, who frequently travels in and out of the airport, did not sign up with Metropolis prior to arriving for her flight on Monday. She signed up with Metropolis while waiting for her flight. 

During the time she took to sign up, Nikolich commented on how this system is similar to Tampa Florida’s, a place she flies to frequently. In Tampa, parkers can connect their toll pass to the airport parking system, so travelers don’t have to wait at gates to pay. 

“You basically drive in and drive out, so you’d have to do anything,” said Nikolich. “This is kind of a different version of that. It’ll be good.” 

Metropolis does have an app that prospective parkers can use, but it is not required.

For travelers facing technological issues on their exit, for example, if their phone is dead and they did not register with Metropolis on their way into the airport, there will be parking attendants at the airport to help out. 

“If you got to the exit and you didn’t have a phone, there are a couple scenarios actually,” said Krafcik. “One, we could let you out, and you could just go and sign up online when you get home. Or we could take a manual payment.”

Parking attendants will be at the airport parking office to help assist in situations like these, with the ability to take charges from credit cards directly if needed. If travelers are let out of the parking lot to pay at home, they will find that the charge will stay attached to their license plate or account, so future parking trips will add to that charge if they forget to pay. 

Travelers who are familiar with Aspen airport’s parking prices will notice an additional charge of 99 cents for stays under two hours, and $2.99 for stays longer than two hours. Quick trips to the airport that result in parking periods less than 30 minutes will still be free.