Magazine for the professional car and truck rental industry.
Issue link: https://autorentalnews.epubxp.com/i/90712
INDUS T R Y NE WS ENTERPRISE HOLDINGS PROVIDES SELF-SERVICE KIOSKS ENTERPRISE HOLDINGS ANNOUNCED on Oct. 2 that its three brands, Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental, are implementing touch-screen kiosks at the "top 50" airport locations in the U.S. The new kiosks enable customers to skip the rental counter and initiate both reserved and walk-up transac- tions with a valid driver's license and major credit card. Customers can also review rental information, change car class, add additional drivers and pur- chase options such as GPS navigation units and child car seats. "The feedback we're getting so far is that this option really im- proves the rental experience for our airport customers, both domestic and international," said Rob Hibbard, VP of airport business development for Enterprise Holdings. The kiosks have incorporated multilingual displays to give customers a choice of English, French, Span- ish, German, Italian or Portuguese languages. While the new kiosks are an upgrade to existing machines already in use at Alamo and National loca- tions, Enterprise Rent-A-Car is introducing this self-service, check-in process to its airport customers for the fi rst time. CONRAC NEWS O'HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ISSUES REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS The Chicago Department of Aviation issued on Sept. 28 a request for qualifi cations (RFQ) for car rental companies interested in entering a concession license and lease agreement at the consolidated rental car facility (conrac) that is expected to be completed in 2016. The authority said that companies have 60 days to respond to the RFQ in order to be considered. The new facility will include a new automated transit system station for use by rental car customers and other facility users traveling to and from the passenger terminals, as well as connections to other modes of public trans- portation. The present facility concept contains approximately 4,100 equivalent rental vehicle parking stalls on three levels, with an adjacent quick-turn-around facility, according to the CDA. Qualifi ed respondents whose bids are accepted by the CDA and are approved by the Chicago City Council will then be required to enter into a concession agreement for the space package awarded to it based upon its bid. The concession agreement is currently estimated to commence upon completion of the facility. The RFQ is posted on the CDA website at www.fl ychicago.com under "Business Information/Contracting Op- portunities." TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LOOKING TO BUILD FACILITY According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Tampa International Airport revealed plans in early October to build an "airtroplis," starting with a conrac. The conrac, which is still in discussion at community meetings as of this writing and is scheduled to have a completed master plan in February, will consist of car rental services, commercial development, parking garages and eventually a light rail station that would connect passengers to the facility. Engineering and construction fi rm HNTB Corp. is currently redesigning the facility after plans were put on hold during the recession. BURBANK AIRPORT BEGINS FACILITY CONSTRUCTION The Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif. broke ground in late August on a new conrac, titled the Regional Intermo- dal Transportation Center. The facility features an 1,100-foot moving walkway to link airline passengers with other means of transportation including a three-level parking structure for rental cars, a rental car customer service building, a bus station, and shuttles to the subway and Metrolink. AUTO RENTAL NEWS BMW'S DRIVENOW PROGRAM EXPANDS TO SAN FRANCISCO BMW Group has expanded its DriveNow program to San Francisco, the fi rst U.S. city to be included in the car sharing program that fi rst launched in Germany last year. San Francisco's DriveNow includes 70 BMW ActiveE all-electric vehicles, according to the announce- ment made in August at a conference with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. Stacy Morris, BMW North America spokesperson, told Auto Rental News that DriveNow in San Francisco, which was soft-launched in June, was made possible through private partner- ships with parking garages across the city. She did not disclose the details of the contracts, but said the partnerships are far more than "just renting out parking spaces," since the parking and valet lot attendants are responsible for answering consumer questions about the program, as well as making sure the ActiveE vehicles are fully charged. As of press time, the 70 vehicles are available at eight locations, with additional locations on the horizon in Palo Alto, Calif. and at the San Francisco International Airport. Vehicles can be returned to any one of the DriveNow locations, which are near BART, MUNI and the city's bike-sharing stations. As well, through a partnership with California- based Coulomb Technologies' Charge- Point network, users can charge their ActiveE at any of the ChargePoint stations, while parking and charging is free at the DriveNow stations. BMW's DriveNow fi rst launched in three cities in Germany through a partnership with Sixt AG; however, the San Francisco program is not a joint service with Sixt as it is in Germany, though the car rental company is pro- viding technical support for the U.S. program, according to Morris. In terms of a timeline on expand- ing DriveNow to other cities, Morris said that moving out to additional areas is in BMW's long-term plan, but that it is too early to tell when or where. "Factors including housing density, parking availability and ac- cess to public transportation are all crucial elements," she said. Solving urban parking issues is another BMW goal, as the company also announced at the press confer- ence the all-new ParkNow, an online mobile parking program that will launch September in San Francisco and is in partnership with Urban Mobility. — By Joanne Tucker November/December 2012 11 PHOTO COURTESY OF ENTERPRISE