**Click here to see the Winners list on the BPA2012 website** (opens in a new window)
Heathrow’s car parking team celebrated a clean sweep at this year’s British Parking Awards, winning four trophies including The Equita Overall Award, at the event held in London (Friday 9th March).
Now in its 11th year the annual competition – supported by the British Parking Association (BPA) – rewards the best in car park management, design and service. The UK’s largest hub airport walked away with The Equita Overall Award – which recognizes the ‘Best of the Best’ in car park management – plus both the Parking & the Environment Award and the Innovation Award for its revolutionary Heathrow Pods which transport passengers between Terminal 5 and the nearby Business Car Park.
The awards were a personal triumph too for Andy Cameron, BAA Retail Operations Manager for Car Parks, who was awarded Parking Person of the Year after three and a half years of service at BAA.
The Heathrow Pods were developed by British company Ultra PRT and designed to eliminate more than 50,000 bus journeys on Heathrow’s roads each year. The system consists of 21 battery powered, driverless, zero emission vehicles capable of carrying more than half a million Heathrow passengers each year along a dedicated 3.8km guide way.
The BPA judges commended the environmentally friendly system which uses 70 per cent less energy than it takes to power a car, and 50 per cent less than a bus, ensuring passengers’ journey time to and from the terminal is congestion free. The on-demand system has been hailed a success by passengers who scored the pods 4.7/5 in a recent satisfaction survey*.
Andy Cameron oversees the maintenance and running of the 14 short and long stay car parks at Heathrow Airport, which have a capacity for 42,000 cars and vehicles in total, and is responsible for introducing car parking services to help improve passenger experience such as the Heathrow Service center and new valet parking areas. Andy recently oversaw the implementation of family car parking bays into all of Heathrow’s Long Stay car parks as part of Heathrow’s ongoing commitment to making the journeys of passengers traveling with children better.
Fraser Brown Ultra Managing Director at Heathrow said: ‘We are thrilled that Heathrow’s car parking offering has been celebrated and rewarded at the prestigious British Parking Awards. We are committed to making our passengers’ experiences within our car parks more efficient and meeting their needs and we are delighted that our latest car parking initiatives have achieved public recognition.”
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