Business Travel Tips

London Heathrow’s Terminal 5, scheduled to open on March 27, 2008, will feature an innovative new system in its main car park which is supposed to help passengers who can’t remember where they parked.

It is a new car-finding technology using infrared cameras to capture an image of a car’s license plate as it enters the garage and then when the car has been parked at its parking spot. Passengers can find their car by inserting the parking ticket or keying in the plate number at a Car Finder kiosk in the terminal.

The new car park also will feature a messaging system to guide drivers, when they first arrive, to an empty parking space using illuminated green or red light arrows on the floor. As the cars don’t have to circle repeatedly, this new technology will have environmental and customer service benefits. Environment as well as security were the factors that led to this car-finding technology.