Pardon our Dust: Airport Makes Room for New People Mover
By Cameo Garrett

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport recently began construction on what will become a significant element of the Airport's new Consolidated Rental Car Facility, or CONRAC.

On March 28, the Department of Aviation began the first phase of site preparation for CONRAC's Automated People Mover System (APM). A key component of CONRAC, the APM will transport passengers between the Airport terminal and the new rental car facility located west of I-85. To make way for the APM, Hartsfield-Jackson must reconfigure the Airport's Ground Transportation Center.

Atlanta has the nation's fourth largest rental car market, and Hartsfield-Jackson's new CONRAC will provide efficient service to customers using the Airport's twelve rental car agencies.

"CONRAC will address the needs for space and growth here at Hartsfield-Jackson in the rental car market, as well as enhance customer service, especially for the business traveler, who accounts for half of our passenger volume," Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta.

Business travelers account for 75 percent of all rental car customers at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

Passengers will notice an immediate shift in transportation services on the Airport's west curb area. During construction, several Ground Transportation services will relocate to other areas of the Airport. For instance, the town car limousines will move to the South Hourly Parking Deck while the stretch limousines will relocate to the north and south lower level curb.

Park N' Ride, hotel shuttles, Atlanta Link and other Ground Transportation services will remain in the west curb area, but move to different aisle locations. However, taxi customers have no fear. The Airport's taxis will remain in their same convenient curbside location during the CONRAC construction.

Passengers may also find some of the curbside pedestrian crosswalks closed during the construction phase, which may make navigating through the area a challenge.

More than 500,000 people use taxi, shuttle and other services each month, and the sheer volume may lead to a traffic jam in the Ground Transportation area in the coming months. Hartsfield-Jackson has taken step to minimize customer frustrations during the three-year project.

"The Ground Transportation Center will be highly congested and maneuvering in the area may be challenging," said Winston Cooper, Airport Ground Transportation Manager.

"However, we will do our best to manage the flow of traffic during the construction period," Cooper said.

Customer Service representatives in teal green coats will be on-hand to assist passengers in locating their desired form of transportation.

The Airport will also have color-coded signs posted to direct customers to their desired transportation, instead of the alphabetized signage currently in use. For example, red signs may identify shuttle service while blue signs may signify Park N'Ride.

Atlanta Police will direct vehicle and pedestrian traffic through Ground Transportation to ensure public safety.

 

© 2006 Hartsfield-Jackson News. A Publication from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. All rights reserved.