Metropolis Meets Amtrak’s 30th Street Station: A Philadelphia Launch Story

Philadelphia, PA • Amtrak

For Metropolis’ teams, launch day at a new location is a massive undertaking, especially for our partners dealing with a huge volume of visitors on a daily basis. Some may expect gray skies and pouring rain to signal bad luck on a launch day, but for travelers parking at Amtrak’s 30th Street Station in the City of Brotherly Love, the forecast called for smooth sailing ahead.

In just six weeks, Metropolis transformed the station’s 1,700-space parking structure from a backed-up, time-draining bottleneck into a seamlessly simple parking experience enabling hundreds of commuters each hour to just drive out.

This wasn’t just any deployment. The monumental neoclassical structure is Amtrak’s third-largest transportation hub in the country and has welcomed travelers since 1933. On a rainy Monday morning in April 2025, it welcomed the future of parking.

A Historic Station Meets Modern Technology

Situated in the heart of Philadelphia on the banks of the Schuylkill River, the William H. Gray III 30th Street Station holds its own amongst the rest of the city’s historic architecture. Architectural Digest included the station on its list of “The 37 Most Beautiful Train Stations in the World,” specifically noting “soaring porticoes, a massive concourse, and museum-quality works of art.” 

Beneath the beauty and grandeur, however, lay a massive operational challenge: The location’s outdated parking equipment created friction for 1,500+ daily parkers, creating long lines and congestion during busy entry and exit windows. This issue was particularly challenging, as many of 30th Street’s visitors are commuters traveling between Philadelphia and major East Coast destinations like New York, Washington and Boston, with little time or tolerance for delays.

“I remember when it was a manual operation, just a cash register,” reflected Abraham, a Metropolis employee who has worked at the station for more than 30 years. While the location had moved past a manual cash register to a ticketing process, the antiquated parking system was still slowing things down.

William H. Gray III 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, PA

From Contract to Clear to Launch

As many great things do, this transformation started with a relationship. After months of conversations with Amtrak’s on-site manager at 30th Street Station, the Metropolis team finally convinced her to experience our Vision system firsthand.

“We took her through the whole demo process,” explained Stephen, Metropolis’ Philadelphia market leader. “We got her to sit in the car with us, drive through the entry gate, sign up in the garage, and then go out the exit. She got that text message saying, ‘Thanks for visiting, here’s your receipt,’ and then, just having that repeat, seamless drive-in, drive-out experience at the location next door, I think from there she was sold.”

By the following week the clock started ticking on an ambitious six-week deployment timeline. Our team’s meticulous preparations included twice-weekly planning meetings with the Amtrak team and plenty of pre-launch communications, signage and business cards to inform parkers of the coming change.

The team understood that this implementation — our largest in Philadelphia to date — was about transforming an experience, not just replacing equipment.

Launch Day: Sunshine Through the Rain

The rain fell steadily on launch day but didn’t dampen the team’s spirit or execution. Metropolis’ crew arrived at 4 for the 6 a.m. go-live, a synchronized, full-team effort involving both operational staff and leadership.

“We all worked together, from launch champions, senior managers and facility managers to vice presidents and market leaders,” said Shane, a Metropolis senior manager. “Everybody was involved from start to finish and we got it done. It went off without a hitch.”

For some parkers ready to fumble with tickets and payment machines per usual, that morning brought initial questions, quickly followed by delight. Unsure morning visitors turned into afternoon fans as gates lifted automatically upon exit — “like magic,” as one parker described it — and they got on the road faster.

Remarkable Results, Immediate Impact

Proof of the launch’s success came swiftly. Our team estimates that by the second day, around 80% of parkers were already on the platform, allowing them to seamlessly drive in, drive out and go. Just two days after launch, the location was at capacity by 10 a.m. — a testament to the station’s high demand and the system’s smooth operations.

Where cars once stopped, started and sat in lengthy queues at traditionally clunky entry and exit points, there now flows a steady stream of vehicles. Our system is successfully processing 600 vehicles exiting in under 1.5 hours, handling 4 to 5 transactions every minute without issue.

“It’s a complete transformation,” said Abraham, reflecting on his 30 years at the station. “It’s amazing to see the system recognize a vehicle, and then the car is in and out — it’s just excellent.”

Amtrak, our partner, agrees with Abraham. After the thorough preparation period and flawless launch, Amtrak’s station manager expressed her pleasure with our work and immediately connected the team to RFP processes for future opportunities — the ultimate vote of confidence.

A Bright Future

The rain of launch day has long since dried and innovation’s sunshine continues to brighten the parking experience at 30th Street. Achieving what might have seemed impossible to some — transforming a 1,700-space location at the nation’s third-busiest Amtrak hub in just six weeks — shows what’s possible with Metropolis as a partner.

The Metropolis difference may start with our industry-leading technology, but it ends with our service. Our team’s tireless preparation, coordination and execution make massive deployments like this seem effortless.

The 30th Street Station launch’s impact extends far beyond Philadelphia. Every day, hundreds of visitors experience flawless parking and then board their trains to New York, DC, Pittsburgh and beyond, becoming ambassadors for parking’s frictionless future.

“As our Members realize how much we care about them, they’re going out and telling the rest of the country how great parking with Metropolis is,” notes Ping, Metropolis’ director of operations, Northeast.

This launch shows Metropolis’ ability to handle scale, transform historic spaces with future-forward technology and, most importantly, give people their time back. 

As Amtrak’s 30th Street Station continues to connect travelers across the Eastern Seaboard and beyond, and word spreads about how easy Philadelphia commuters’s days start and end, Metropolis stands ready to answer the inevitable question from your tenants: “Why isn’t our parking this easy?”

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Ready to transform your property’s parking experience? Visit metropolis.io/contact to start the conversation.