By Geoffrey Posluszny

The American Dream is an entertainment retail complex located next to the Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey, just a few short miles from New York City. This development has been in the works for more than 20 years and has had its share of ups and downs. After a couple of different names and a couple of different owners, the project partially opened to the public in October 2019 but was closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It weathered this latest storm and reopened in September.

My company has been involved in the project since its first conceptual design was publicized in 1996. In 2018 as the project was nearing completion, a new parking access and revenue control system (PARCS) needed to be designed, procured, and installed. I was brought on board when the PARCS design project surfaced. I gladly accepted the assignment not knowing anything about the American Dream or the unimaginable magnitude of the project. I am eternally grateful to have been selected.

The selected PARCS system integrates with the latest technologies, including a fully automated pay-on-foot system, level-by-level parking guidance, license plate recognition (LPR), valet parking program, EZ-Pass Plus payments, online reservations, packaging with amusement tickets, and pre-paid Ticketmaster football and event parking programs.

Join me when I present a case study on the project in an IPMI webinar, December 9, at 2 p.m. Eastern. We’ll discuss how the technology was selected, the RFP process, construction, installation, testing, and implementation. We’ll also explore how COVID-19 affected the project even though we had already implemented most of the contactless technologies that can combat the pandemic’s effects.

Geoffrey Posluszny is a parking technology and operations consultant with Walker Consultants. He’ll present on this topic in an IPMI webinar, Wednesday, Dec. 9. Click here for details and to register.