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Detroit Metro Airport Goes Live with New Parking Guidance System
A major milestone has been reached at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), where the new Park Assist solution is now live at the McNamara Terminal Parking Garage.
The launch marks the next chapter in a project first announced in 2024, when DTW and the Wayne County Airport Authority selected the Park Assist Solution, a camera-based automated parking guidance system (APGS), to modernize parking across the airport. The broader $25 million project is designed to improve the parking experience for millions of travelers while giving airport operators greater visibility into their parking facilities.
A Smarter Parking Experience is Now Live at DTW
The new parking guidance system provides travelers with real-time visibility into parking availability at the 10 level McNamara Parking Garage, down to the individual parking space.
Color-coded indicators make it easy to identify available and occupied spaces at a glance:
- Green indicates an available parking space
- Red identifies an occupied space
- Blue identifies available accessible parking
The system is also app-connected, allowing travelers to check parking availability before arriving and helping them locate their vehicle upon returning from their trip.
For an airport serving more than 33 million passengers in 2025 alone, improvements like these can have an impact well beyond the parking facility itself. By making it easier for drivers to find an available space, the system is designed to reduce the time spent searching, improve traffic flow, and create a smoother transition from the road to the terminal.
More Than Parking Guidance
While travelers will immediately notice the LED indicators throughout the garage, the technology behind them does so much more than simply point drivers toward an open space.
The M5 smart sensor uses integrated, high-definition cameras to monitor parking spaces in real time, creating opportunities for enhanced security, operational visibility, and parking analytics.
As Jeff Sparrow, Director of Sales, North America at TKH Security, recently explained:
“Most travelers see a green light and are satisfied to have found an available parking space. Airport operators see something much greater.”
That broader view is an important part of what makes camera-based parking technology different from traditional parking guidance. The same technology that helps travelers find an available space can also provide operators with greater visibility into their facilities and valuable data about parking activity.
Once fully implemented, the Park Assist Solution will provide intelligent parking guidance across thousands of spaces at DTW, helping create a more connected parking experience for travelers while providing vital insights to airport operators.
What’s Next for Detroit Metropolitan Airport?
The McNamara Parking Garage is the first major milestone in the broader DTW deployment. Installation is also underway at the Warren Cleage Evans Terminal’s Big Blue Deck, with that portion of the system expected to go live later in 2026.
From the initial project announcement to a live system serving travelers today, the DTW deployment demonstrates how airports can use smart parking technology to improve the journey before passengers ever reach the terminal. For millions of travelers passing through Detroit each year, a simpler airport parking experience is now a reality.
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