Committee approves contract to add vehicle incursion prevention system at Cleveland Hopkins

CLEVELAND — The Transportation & Mobility Committee on an emergency ordinance approved the acquisition of a vehicle incursion prevention and management system for Cleveland Hopkins Airport, intended to add a digital layer of safety to airport vehicle operations.

The ordinance authorizes the director of port control to employ “professional consultants, computer software developers, or vendors” to provide an airport runway incursion prevention and management system and related services for a period of one year with a one‑year option to renew. The committee recorded the contract amount as $70,000.

Assistant Director Dennis Kramer, airport development, told the committee the system will augment existing transponders on airport equipment by adding software, in‑vehicle tablets and geofencing to track vehicles and keep them out of restricted runway areas. “This is another layer of safety that we’re looking to add to our vehicles to assure that all of them are staying in the right places,” Kramer said.

Kramer said the technology could be installed in many types of airport vehicles including large tractor mowers used near runways. The committee chair described the system as an “additional layer” on top of current operational controls and tours of the airfield.

The committee voted to approve the ordinance during the legislative portion of the meeting and asked the clerk to finalize signatures. No formal roll‑call tally was recorded in the committee transcript provided.

Committee members and staff did not identify a vendor in the public presentation, and no contract start date was given during the discussion.