Atlanta airport prepares for massive parking deck project (Jackson: car rental, 2015)

[Gulch]

Atlanta airport prepares for massive parking deck project | AJC@ATL

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is starting a massive project to double the size of its parking decks, an effort expected to take at least eight years and hundreds of millions of dollars.

Parking is an important service that can cause frustration for travelers when they can’t find a spot and are rushing to catch a flight. But it’s also one of the biggest sources of revenue for the airport. And, the airport faces big competition from private off-airport parking lots.

More than 100 people interested in a contract to design the project to demolish the aging parking decks and rebuild new ones attended a meeting Tuesday at Hartsfield-Jackson. A separate contract is planned for construction of the parking decks.

The expansion of the world’s busiest airport’s domestic terminal parking garages is part of Hartsfield-Jackson’s master plan unveiled last year, when the airport revealed the project was estimated to cost $550 million to $750 million in 2014 dollars.

Hartsfield-Jackson spokesman Reese McCranie said the existing decks are decades old and not structured to support the weight of four additional levels.

[ATLTJL]

Wow.

I can only imagine what a disaster the airport is going to be during this construction.

[flyonpa]

Actually the Parking Deck @ Convention Center sound like a good idea, Would be good for the Multi-Day Travelers, making more room for hourly parking @ the Airport itself.

I've always wondered why the Airport Admin. does not push the off-site Parking lots (Hotel etc) to do there pick-up/drop off @ the Convention Center SkyTrain Stop. Would remove a huge amount of the Shuttle Van/Bus traffic.

If/When they build the Hotel onsite, its planned to go int space where they drop now.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Wow.

I can only imagine what a disaster the airport is going to be during this construction.

There is always MARTA?!

[flyonpa]

Get MARTA to run 24x7 Then we can talk about using MARTA..

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by flyonpa

Get MARTA to run 24x7 Then we can talk about using MARTA..

There is no need, currently, to run MARTA 24 hours a day? It stops at 1:18am and starts back at 4:45am. There are not many flights at those times.

[flyonpa]

Originally Posted by cqholt

There is no need, currently, to run MARTA 24 hours a day? It stops at 1:18am and starts back at 4:45am. There are not many flights at those times.

But when there is Weather...
Flights get delayed for any number of reasons.

Been on 2 flight where I used MARTA, Scheduled arrival for ~10p got in to Gate @ 1am But time was in terminal got bags, it was close to 1:45am. Wound up taking a expensive Cab ride to NorthSprings. 2nd time Rented a Car, Drove home, brought car back next day, Then took MARTA back to get my car.

So I'm getting later then ~6pm I drive to the airport, Park off-site.

[ATLTJL]

But when there is Weather...
Flights get delayed for any number of reasons.

EXACTLY!

And this is very common, especially in Atlanta, where thunderstorms that delay flights are common.

I don't even fly very often at all, but a couple of years ago, a flight that was supposed to land at 5 or 6pm didn't get here until 2am. It was a combination of weather and mechanical failures.

Luckily, I didn't take MARTA to the airport that time. I would have been royally screwed if I had. The last thing you want to do after dealing with flight delays and hanging around airports for 8 hours is figure out how you're going to get home from the airport and potentially deal with car rental counters and expensive cabs or Ubers.

Until MARTA runs 24/7, it is simply not a reliable option for the airport.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by flyonpa

But when there is Weather...
Flights get delayed for any number of reasons.

Been on 2 flight where I used MARTA, Scheduled arrival for ~10p got in to Gate @ 1am But time was in terminal got bags, it was close to 1:45am. Wound up taking a expensive Cab ride to NorthSprings. 2nd time Rented a Car, Drove home, brought car back next day, Then took MARTA back to get my car.

So I'm getting later then ~6pm I drive to the airport, Park off-site.

ish happens and it cannot be blamed on MARTA for not running 24 hours.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

EXACTLY!

And this is very common, especially in Atlanta, where thunderstorms that delay flights are common.

I don't even fly very often at all, but a couple of years ago, a flight that was supposed to land at 5 or 6pm didn't get here until 2am. It was a combination of weather and mechanical failures.

Luckily, I didn't take MARTA to the airport that time. I would have been royally screwed if I had. The last thing you want to do after dealing with flight delays and hanging around airports for 8 hours is figure out how you're going to get home from the airport and potentially deal with car rental counters and expensive cabs or Ubers.

Until MARTA runs 24/7, it is simply not a reliable option for the airport.

It is a very reliable option for the airport, in fact Airport Station having the 2nd highest boardings on the system proves it is reliable.