Cell Phone Lots at Airports (2015)

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47 This synthesis provided the results of initial study on airport cell phone lots, free parking areas where greeters wait before proceeding to pick up arriving passengers at the terminal curbside. Because little information about airport cell phone lots was available, a literature search was undertaken and an online search of 110 U.S. and Canadian airports performed to determine the prevalence of cell phone lots and their basic characteristics. In addition, 28 airports with cell phone lots and four airports with- out were invited to participate in an online survey and follow-up telephone interview. Together these instruments made it possible to assemble a picture of how airports size and locate an airport cell phone lot; determine the right combination of amenities to offer; and manage the lot. Airports that do not offer a cell phone lot had a variety of reasons, usually specific to the airport, such as lack of space for a cell phone lot, reuse of the lot as a construction staging area, or alternative approaches to passenger pick-up areas. Airport operators offering cell phone lots implemented one of three basic product types: • A lot that offers free parking for users and minimal amenities such as trash cans and lighting; • A free parking product, located in a paid parking area, that converts to paid parking, often after 60 minutes; or • A free parking area associated with a concession (or concessions) that may offer gas, food, or a convenience store. Of the three types of cell phone lots, the first type, parking areas with few amenities, is the most com- mon. Airport operators tend to invest minimally in the lots, pursue few planning studies to determine demand and optimal size of the lot, and post basic rules for the lot to minimize the need for enforcement resources. Most customer feedback comes from either the airport website or social media. The rationale for having an airport cell phone lot also varies by airport, but in the course of the telephone interviews common reasons emerged. Some cell phone lots were developed after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, as a mechanism to concentrate greeters in one location away from the terminal curbside and to reduce recirculating traffic on airport access roads. Since 9/11, cell phone lots have become popular among greeters who prefer not to pay for parking while waiting to pick up an arriving passenger. This review showed that for many airports, the dimensions of an available parcel for a cell phone lot determine the capacity of the lot. Airport security, local police, and ground transportation staff manage and monitor the lots as part of general duties. Operating costs for a cell phone lot typically are part of the airport’s landside operating budget. Few airport operators interviewed knew the actual and allocated overhead costs to operate and maintain the lot. For airport operators that offer free parking for a limited time within an existing parking facility, activity in the cell phone lot often is monitored by the parking revenue management system. Pittsburgh International Airport, for example, noted that use of the cell phone lot increased from an average of 3,500 per month in its first year of operation (2012) to an average of 8,200 in the first six months of 2014. Tampa International, which operates a 350-space cell phone lot and offers 59 minutes free in the short-term parking garage, reported that 45%–55% of short-term parking transactions in the garage are free. chapter five CONCLUSIONS

48 Airport operators interviewed consider Denver International’s concession area, which incorpo- rates the cell phone lot with restaurants, a gas station, and a convenience store, to be a viable way to offer improved customer service and convert free parking to a revenue producing center. This model works if there is available land for development visible along an access road to the airport and if there are few competing gas stations and restaurants just off the airport property. Several airports inter- viewed are considering similar cell phone lot solutions to Denver’s Final Approach development. Airports offered the following lessons learned from operating a cell phone lot: • It is important that a cell phone lot be large enough to accommodate demand and alleviate road and curbside congestion. • If the objective is to reduce congestion at the curbside, cell phone lots can work more effec- tively if airport security limits vehicle wait time at the terminal’s curbside. • Smart phones applications and/or flight information display systems (FIDS) can alert greeters about the right time to leave a cell phone lot and pick up passengers. However, aircraft arrival times are not always indicators of when a passenger is ready for pick-up. Some airports inter- viewed post both aircraft arrival times and estimated times for passenger pick-up on FIDS. • A cell phone lot could effectively include a striped area to accommodate regular demand and an overflow lot for peak arrival times and holidays. • A cell phone lot could be located away from the terminal and on parcels that do not compete with higher revenue activity for the airport. • Proper signage is critical to greeters’ finding the lot, to getting back to the terminal, and to relo- cating if they find hourly parking already full. • Critical in the design of a cell phone lot is safe and well-marked road access and egress. For those airports that have concentrated aircraft arrivals, ample space and well-marked exit lanes could minimize congestion and delays exiting the lot. • Cell phone lots can operate effectively with minimal amenities; however, lighting and trash cans are essential. Overall, airport operators participating in this synthesis viewed cell phone lots as a valuable customer service. However, given the limited scope of this initial synthesis, many questions remain unanswered. • Concerning reductions in curbside congestion at the terminal and in recirculating traffic: – How effective are cell phone lots in reducing curbside congestion in the terminal area? – What metrics can an airport use to measure the extent to which a cell phone lot reduces vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) on the airport property? • How many spaces does a cell phone lot need? A review of cell phone lot capacities and the num- ber of arriving passengers (based upon estimates of 2013 origin and destination passengers) indicated little correlation between size of cell phone lots and the number of arriving passengers. A few airports with ground access studies were reviewed; however, no statistical relationships between the size of cell phone lots and the number of passengers picked up in private vehicles were determined. Ground access surveys paired with simple equipment to count vehicles enter- ing or exiting a cell phone lot would begin to inform airport planners about how to best size a cell phone lot. • Do cell phone lots divert revenue from paid parking facilities? Some airport operators believe that revenue loss with free cell phone lots is substantial; other operators believe that cell phone lot users serve a group of greeters that will never pay for parking. There are many untested assumptions surrounding cell phone lots that lend themselves to more in-depth analysis. However, at this point, the contribution of cell phone lots to relieve congestion at the terminal curbside and to reduce recirculating and idling vehicles remains unknown and would require an analysis of individual airport ground access patterns. That said, airport cell phone lots garner favorable reviews by greeters waiting to pick up arriving passengers and remain a popular customer service offered by many commercial airports throughout the United States.