Lewiston-Nez Perce County Airport finished work on a new gated parking system July 17.

Airport director Mike Isaacs said with this current system, once residents pull into the airport, they will notice a large electronic board with a telephone number at the gate to get in.

“Call the telephone number to open the gate. People who dial that number, the gate goes up and they can go in and find a place to park,” Isaacs said. “About 15 minutes later, you’ll get a text on payment options.”

Isaacs said the first two hours of parking are free, but when people leave they will pay for the amount of time they were parked there. The current rate is $5 per day.

“One of the problems we were having was, especially during COVID, people’s travel plans changed a lot. A car was parked and they paid for three days and ended up needing to be there for three weeks,” Isaacs said. “Now, you don’t pay until you leave the lot.”

Isaacs said he believes this new system is geared toward students and younger generations, due to it being cellphone based. However, the gate features a button that can let customers talk to an airport employee if they do not have a phone.

The planning to implement this system by the airport management began about a year ago, Isaacs said. This is because this sort of technology only became available around a year ago.

“It’s brand new technology. I think you’re going to see across the United States a lot less people standing at the gate,” Isaacs said. “There’s no face-to-face transactions, it’s all automated.”

The installation cost for the system was about $45,000, which is about one-quarter of what it costs to install a standard ticketing system, Isaacs said. The system is in operation for those arriving at the airport.

“The system is live starting on [July 17],” he said. “So far everything is working well. We’re going to be working on fine-tuning some signage to help people figure their way in and out.”