Many garages that SP Plus, a Chicago-based company, manages across the country employ hands-free systems at the gates and mobile payments “to create a touchless experience,” said Jeff Eckerling, the company’s chief growth officer. Overall, the company oversees “upwards of two million” parking spaces in several thousand locations, including more than 70 airports, he said.Despite the touchless technology, stay-at-home restrictions that were mandated more than a year ago because of the coronavirus wreaked havoc on the parking garage business. An empty parking spot is like a subway car without riders, a baseball stadium without fans.“Our whole industry was …
