My husband and I were part of the many thanksgiving travelers who waited hours for a pickup. My sons were in line for over 1.45 hours trying to reach us. The biggest issue we noticed is the poor training of the crossing guards. ALL foot traffic was being allowed to pass at will at the first section of pickups (stationA). So cars were being stopped every five minutes to let walkers pass...which led to areas B,C,D,and E waiting. If walkers were parsed every ten minutes....at the end of the terminal, this would allow more cars to enter the pick up zone and load their passengers. An hour could have been shaved off had my husband been allowed to direct traffic! I'm sure the guards were just following orders, but there was no reasoning behind the process.
There are two major stories impacting Charlotte that are not being covered enough on the true impact for the future of Charlotte that the Charlotte Ledger has a real opportunity to shine on these topics. One is the incredible opportunity with the new medical school being built and the second is the absolute failure in planning for the multi-billion dollar airport expansion. I have an outline of an article already written as I used to travel 40+ times a year and am so thankful I rarely travel as our airport has become a real problem, with no fix in sight, and more traffic coming every year. Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss or collaborate on an article on the airport, from a travelers perspective, not the city or airport or airlines.
The fact that this wasnt thought of before the redesign is bizarre. Widening the drop off area, but not making it any longer or adding a second or even third drop off/ pick up zone was incredibly short sighted. It seems that we have some real infrastructure challenges across the city!
Airports w/large volumes that do it well employ a number of tacticts:
(1) Re-locate taxi/uber away from regular pick-up/drop-off (e.g. Nashville, Salt Lake, Detroit). I would put this where the old old control tower is currently located. This real estate is too valuable to not be used efficiently.
(2) Eliminate entirely walking across pick-up/drop-off to parking, uber, car rental (e.g. Orlando, Tampa). The construction access above the pick-up/drop-off area needs to be opened. The access above and below that area needs to be well-signed, especially for rental cars, and finally the ability to walk across the passenger pick-up needs to be closed off from the parking deck side.
(3) Have more lineal feet of passenger pick-up/drop-off, which means you've got to create an incrementally new pick-up/drop-off (Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Chicago O'hare). Tampa Int'l airpor provides a unique model in this regard. They've created mutiple drop-off / pick up lanes at the main airport terminal. But they've also created a remote drop-off/pick-up by the car rental garage that is accesible to the main airport by a highly dependable automatic train. I think the latter could work in Charlotte (given our tight real estate constriants), and also address the parking fiasco (you never know what is open when you drive to the airport, getting onto a parking garage bus is a nightmare).
I agree w/Adam Petricoff's comments. The story here is about the poor planning/oversight of a multi-billion-dollar airport renovation. The airport's goal to keep gate fees low requires that construction is constantly in a "catch up" mode. I think that is fine. I'll take the trade-off to ensure we maintain a major airline hub. However the master-plan was-and-is ill-conceived. Most noteably in terms of drop-off/pick-up, parking, and overcrowding in terminals B and C. I realize there are financial considerations - e.g. parking accounts for 1/3 of the airports revenue. However at the end of these many billions of dollars, we will not be happy with the airport product we have....especially when other jurisidications have proven there is a better way to renovate (namely Salt Lake City).
There was directions for terminal deliveries that had you turning right on Wilkinson and left at the first light. Almost got you to terminal A. That's the approach that should be used for folks flying out of terminal A. There would still need some construction to happen but something needs to relieve Josh Birmingham and this could.
Ride share requires them to drop off upstairs and then if they fill a ride (which is typical), they must circle back around and get in line again to go downstairs. This must have a huge impact.
Exiting a vehicle at the rear of the hourly deck would never work for those who need mobility assistance. The push chair personnel would have to wait outside in all conditions which will never happen. Also families with strollers and others to navigate that additional distance through a deck is very unlikely to be an answer.
My husband and I were part of the many thanksgiving travelers who waited hours for a pickup. My sons were in line for over 1.45 hours trying to reach us. The biggest issue we noticed is the poor training of the crossing guards. ALL foot traffic was being allowed to pass at will at the first section of pickups (stationA). So cars were being stopped every five minutes to let walkers pass...which led to areas B,C,D,and E waiting. If walkers were parsed every ten minutes....at the end of the terminal, this would allow more cars to enter the pick up zone and load their passengers. An hour could have been shaved off had my husband been allowed to direct traffic! I'm sure the guards were just following orders, but there was no reasoning behind the process.
There are two major stories impacting Charlotte that are not being covered enough on the true impact for the future of Charlotte that the Charlotte Ledger has a real opportunity to shine on these topics. One is the incredible opportunity with the new medical school being built and the second is the absolute failure in planning for the multi-billion dollar airport expansion. I have an outline of an article already written as I used to travel 40+ times a year and am so thankful I rarely travel as our airport has become a real problem, with no fix in sight, and more traffic coming every year. Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss or collaborate on an article on the airport, from a travelers perspective, not the city or airport or airlines.
Special entry for handicap passengers is needed. I had to walk a long way before getting service
The fact that this wasnt thought of before the redesign is bizarre. Widening the drop off area, but not making it any longer or adding a second or even third drop off/ pick up zone was incredibly short sighted. It seems that we have some real infrastructure challenges across the city!
Airports w/large volumes that do it well employ a number of tacticts:
(1) Re-locate taxi/uber away from regular pick-up/drop-off (e.g. Nashville, Salt Lake, Detroit). I would put this where the old old control tower is currently located. This real estate is too valuable to not be used efficiently.
(2) Eliminate entirely walking across pick-up/drop-off to parking, uber, car rental (e.g. Orlando, Tampa). The construction access above the pick-up/drop-off area needs to be opened. The access above and below that area needs to be well-signed, especially for rental cars, and finally the ability to walk across the passenger pick-up needs to be closed off from the parking deck side.
(3) Have more lineal feet of passenger pick-up/drop-off, which means you've got to create an incrementally new pick-up/drop-off (Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Chicago O'hare). Tampa Int'l airpor provides a unique model in this regard. They've created mutiple drop-off / pick up lanes at the main airport terminal. But they've also created a remote drop-off/pick-up by the car rental garage that is accesible to the main airport by a highly dependable automatic train. I think the latter could work in Charlotte (given our tight real estate constriants), and also address the parking fiasco (you never know what is open when you drive to the airport, getting onto a parking garage bus is a nightmare).
I agree w/Adam Petricoff's comments. The story here is about the poor planning/oversight of a multi-billion-dollar airport renovation. The airport's goal to keep gate fees low requires that construction is constantly in a "catch up" mode. I think that is fine. I'll take the trade-off to ensure we maintain a major airline hub. However the master-plan was-and-is ill-conceived. Most noteably in terms of drop-off/pick-up, parking, and overcrowding in terminals B and C. I realize there are financial considerations - e.g. parking accounts for 1/3 of the airports revenue. However at the end of these many billions of dollars, we will not be happy with the airport product we have....especially when other jurisidications have proven there is a better way to renovate (namely Salt Lake City).
There was directions for terminal deliveries that had you turning right on Wilkinson and left at the first light. Almost got you to terminal A. That's the approach that should be used for folks flying out of terminal A. There would still need some construction to happen but something needs to relieve Josh Birmingham and this could.
Great story and ideas! Hope it pokes some brainstorming@
Ride share requires them to drop off upstairs and then if they fill a ride (which is typical), they must circle back around and get in line again to go downstairs. This must have a huge impact.
Exiting a vehicle at the rear of the hourly deck would never work for those who need mobility assistance. The push chair personnel would have to wait outside in all conditions which will never happen. Also families with strollers and others to navigate that additional distance through a deck is very unlikely to be an answer.