A couple of weeks ago I took my son to Union Station in downtown Portland so he could catch the train back to school in Eugene. We were a little early so I looked for a parking space and found one in the tiny, congested lot across the street. We walked back to the station and he got in line to get his ticket when I remembered I hadn't paid. Portland has some really vicious tow trucks and parking fines and I didn't want to get snared, so I went back to pay the stupid fee. $3.50 on my debit card. By the time I got back to the station, my son was gone and a few minutes later the train started pulling out.
Okay, I misjudged how much time we time had. I would have been better off dropping him at the curb. But train travel is supposed to be more relaxed, more civilized. We should have had time to chew the fat for a bit before the train left. Well, now I know better, I need to allow more time if that's what I want to do.
Union Station in downtown Portland.
I eventually find some unmetered spots, but I am a long ways from the station and it's getting to be train time. So I meander back to the station and there's my daughter walking across the driveway. She hops in and away we go.
When I lived in Phoenix we used to fly on American West. They had a pretty good arrangement. They had a parking lot a short distance from the terminal. You pull in, check your baggage right there and then take a shuttle to the terminal proper. You dispense with your luggage, parking and driving all in one fell swoop. Best arrangement I've ever seen.
There are several ways airports and train stations could do a better job of accommodating automobiles.
- Automated parking garages. You pull in, check your luggage, your car disappears into the parking machine. You walk to your plane.
- Free valet parking. Same as #1 except a person makes your car disappear.
- Build a mile of curbside parking for every airliner gate. In order to make your walk to the aircraft reasonable, you may want to make arrange for two, three, four or even more stories.
- The terminal does not need to be small. There is no reason to cluster aircraft close together. The flipping runways are a mile long. The terminal building could be that long as well. Shoot, some places, it already is.
Minneapolis / St. Paul Terminal. The blue line is 1.16 miles long.
1 comment:
Quite right about automated parking. My company (www.syncpark.net) is looking for airports and other facilities that are interested in converting to automated parking garages, happy for any suggestions or leads.
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