Fwd: Motorists Praise Palm Beach Airport's Cell-Phone Lot

--- Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 23:24:21 -0800 (PST)
> From: Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Motorists Praise Palm Beach Airport's
> Cell-Phone Lot
> To: airport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> Motorists Praise Palm Beach Airport's Cell-Phone Lot
> Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, FL
> 
> Posted January 12 2004 
> 
> As projects go, the opening of a 24-space parking
> lot
> usually isn't worth crowing about.
> 
> But at Palm Beach International Airport, it's a
> little
> thing officials hope will make a big difference.
>  
> The airport has opened a special cell-phone lot for
> people waiting for "the call" from arriving
> passengers. The lot, off Florida Mango and Belvedere
> roads, gives drivers a place to sit and idle so they
> don't have to park illegally along the airport's
> roadways or stop curbside in front of the terminal
> --
> a practice that sheriff's deputies no longer allow
> in
> a new era of heightened airport security.
> 
> "This is a great idea," said Alan Newmark of Lake
> Worth, who stopped by the airport Friday morning to
> pick up friends.
> 
> Newmark, who recently moved to South Florida from
> Cherry Hill, N.J., said he discovered the lot, which
> opened before Christmas, on Thursday night while
> swinging by the airport. He said he wished more
> airports offered the same convenience.
> 
> At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport,
> where illegal parking is even a bigger problem along
> the new main entrance road, officials say the
> landlocked airport doesn't have room to build a
> holding lot.
> 
> The 1,400-acre airport, which handles about 18
> million
> passengers a year, is about three times smaller in
> area than others carrying similar passenger loads.
> 
> "It sounds like a good idea, but I think part of the
> reluctance here to do that is that there isn't any
> place to do it," airport spokesman Jim Reynolds
> said.
> "During peak arrival periods, we have 40 to 46
> airplanes coming in here. That equates to as many as
> 5,000 passengers within an hour or two."
> 
> Palm Beach International Airport spokeswoman Lisa De
> La Rionda said officials saw the need for a special
> lot for people waiting in their cars because drivers
> weren't heeding "no parking" signs on the grass and
> side roads leading to the airport.
> 
> "When we initiated the random car searches, cars
> that
> had gone through the checkpoint were then pulling
> off
> to the side of the road and idling. This is not what
> we wanted," De La Rionda said. "Others were circling
> in front of the terminals continually."
> 
> Palm Beach International Airport allows visitors to
> park in its main garage for 20 minutes for free,
> then
> 75 cents per half hour after that. Visitors at Fort
> Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport must pay
> $1
> per half hour to park in the airport's two main
> garages. Parking is free if they are there less than
> 20 minutes.
> 
> But many drivers don't want the hassle of getting in
> and out of a garage, even if it's for free.
> 
> At Miami International Airport, no free parking is
> provided. Short-term visitors must pay $2.50 per
> half
> hour.
> 
> Palm Beach County Sheriff's Deputy Gregory Steffey
> said some holdouts are still parking illegally
> around
> the airport. But he said that would probably change
> as
> more people become aware of the new lot.
> 
> "When five flights come in at once, we don't have
> the
> room to allow people to sit in their cars outside
> the
> terminal and wait, aside from the safety and
> security
> concerns," Steffey said.
> 
> De La Rionda said the cost to build the cell phone
> lot
> was minimal, although she didn't have a figure. The
> airport fixed up an existing, unused asphalt lot,
> installed parking curbs, painted stripes and erected
> a
> fence and signs.
> 
> "We think this is a fantastic use of space," De La
> Rionda said. "We've had a phenomenal response since
> it
> opened."
> 
> Before the nation's terror alert was elevated last
> month, drivers routinely ignored "no parking" signs
> at
> Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and
> lined up along the entrance roadway with cell phones
> in hand, waiting for loved ones to come out of
> baggage
> claim areas to be picked up.
> 
> The cars sometimes extended along the exit ramp from
> eastbound Interstate 595, which forms an arc around
> the end of the main runway.
> 
> The presence of Broward Sheriff's deputies at a
> checkpoint has curbed the problem at least
> temporarily. But if the past is any indication, the
> conga line of cars will be back as soon as the
> checkpoint goes away. The nation's terror-attack
> warning was lowered on Friday from orange, or high
> risk, to yellow, or elevated.
> 
> David Cooper, of Weston, said the experience of
> picking up family and friends at the airport has
> changed because of the increased security.
> 
> "The whole idea ... was to look at their faces
> coming
> off the aircraft. Now you cannot get past security,"
> he said. "It's not the same as meeting them at
> baggage
> claim; worse, being harassed to move your car when
> trying to pick them up."
> 
> Fort Lauderdale airport spokesman Reynolds said
> sheriff's deputies are stepping up patrols to shoo
> away idling cars stopped longer than to load or
> unload
> passengers and write tickets for people who park
> illegally.
> 
> "At the worst, people have to pay 2 bucks to park if
> they're there an hour. I don't think that's going to
> kill anyone," Reynolds said. "Money isn't the issue.
> I
> think people want the convenience. We like to be
> customer friendly, but this is one service that is
> really, really tough for us because of the layout we
> have."
> 
> Michael Turnbell can be reached at
> mturnbell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or 954-356-4155.  
> 
> 

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