Why doesnt Hartsfield Have?

[ecuresident]

Originally Posted by arjay57

If I'm picking somebody up I just use the hourly parking adjacent to the terminal. $2 to park for 2 hours right outside the front door is pretty stinking cheap!

Arjay, I agree its pretty cheap, my point is that people still dont use it and instead circle around a billion times or try parking at the little turn off for economy parking or various other places. I would think just from a security standpoint it would be cheaper for them to build a lot rather than have to have a police officer every 100 yards whistling and hollering at people. I assume just making a paved lot cant cost that much- you would only need parking for 50+ cars. Midway's is a piece of Crap and only holds about 50 cars, I think it was an old lot used for something else previously.

Testa go for it, I have no problem with the topic going in a different direction!

[lorilove]

There is a % of the population that will always drive around rather than park at the cell phone lot. We all agree there are lots of cheap options and yet some people don't take advantage of them.

If they add a cell phone lot with 50 spaces then, many of the current drivers that park for $2 wil move to that lot. I expect it will fill up fast and then there will be complaints there are not enough spaces.

So do we put up a sign that says the lot is only for those people that refuse to pay $2 and everyone else go to the other lots. It is a never ending cycle that can't be won.

$2 is cheap given the options. The driver could stay in the car in the lot, they don't have to get out and walk in side.

I suspect the same drivers that are looping the airport are the same ones that will wait in a long line at the drive thru for a cup of coffee or Coke when the parking lot is wide open.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by ecuresident

Arjay, I agree its pretty cheap, my point is that people still dont use it and instead circle around a billion times or try parking at the little turn off for economy parking or various other places. I would think just from a security standpoint it would be cheaper for them to build a lot rather than have to have a police officer every 100 yards whistling and hollering at people. I assume just making a paved lot cant cost that much- you would only need parking for 50+ cars.

It seems goofy to me that people will drive around endlessly, creating obstructions, burning up gasoline, generating air pollution, and wearing out their cars and their nervous systems, rather than simply parking at the front door. They can quickly burn up more than $2 with this mindless circling.

It's time to curb the obsession with "free" parking. In the first place it's not free at all. And I don't mean just the cost of constructing new lots. There are many other environmental problems associated with parking. See my post here.

And we already have an extremely nice parking facility which is approved for security and is only steps away from the terminal. Getting in and out couldn't be easier. If folks can't spring for two bucks for two hours of parking there,
they need to rethink their priorities.

As others have said, there are plenty of other options as well.

We need to be focusing on ways to function with less parking, not more. "Free" parking does not help a city urbanize. To the contrary, it incentivizes sprawl and reliance upon cars as the dominant (and often virtually exclusive) mode of transportation. Cars are great, but a world class city needs a balance with other means of getting around. If folks can't handle $2 for deluxe, covered front door parking we are in serious trouble.


Amazon.com: High Cost of Free Parking (9781884829987): Donald C. Shoup: Books

Why Free Parking Comes at a Price - NYTimes.com

[PKCorey]

Until a couple months ago when they put up the reflectors, you could park and wait at the old rental car locations. You still can on the North Terminal side slightly. When you turn on the road that splits the rental car locations and make a U Turn and sit and wait for the call . Another place to sit and wait on the North Terminal side is by the Fire Station. The gate is usually open and you can park inside with Fire and EMS cars *whistle*

The new Manager for the Airport wants a cell lot but it hasn't moved forward yet.