@BlogKCIt’s a mantra in KC… Parking, Parking, Parking. Cities all over the country and the globe are establishing programs and goals for shifting a portion of single-occupancy automobile drivers to car pools, public transportation, bicycling, and walking. Here in KC we have yet another public agency doing just the opposite. In a Star article about the Northland segment of light rail, airport officials openly worry that if people flock to light rail it will cut into their parking revenue.
Chastain’s plan connects KCI to the route. But aviation director Mark VanLoh said a light-rail system would cut into the airport’s parking and rental car revenues.
“I’m not opposed to light rail at all,” VanLoh said. “But this light-rail system would be in direct competition with us. If we don’t get enough parking revenues, then we have to boost airlines’ fees, and then travelers’ ticket prices go up.”
VanLoh said rental car revenues are helping pay for the Sprint Arena under construction downtown.
Most airports around the world seek ways to boost their connections to public transportation, but not KCI. It was also earlier this month when news broke that Downtown’s East Village redevelopment was scaling back housing to provide more parking.
Seems only logical. One of the biggest things people try to bypass when it comes to KCI (or any airport for that matter) is having to pay for parking. If no one uses light rail for day-to-day… you KNOW people are going to use it to bypass paying for parking at KCI. There are cities out there that use light rail ONLY for their airport… and it does fairly well.
The question becomes… with lost parking revenue, does it get replaced with higher rent for the airlines, thus more expensive tickets? Or resturants? Or does it just mean that the parking rates go up to compensate?
come on! does it matter to the average traveler where their extra $5 is going? to the airport fees or for parking? our airport fees are pretty low, and so are our parking rates. the only people getting the shaft right now are those renting cars (and a lot of those people will STILL rent cars, even if there is a light rail connection). the point that the airport dummies fail to realize is that multi-modalism generally spurs growth in all modes in the long term.
Why is the airport’s parking and rental car revenue an issue to me? I have never received a check from the airport for my cut of these revenues. I think this qote gets me the most: “We want to respect what the citizens voted on,” said ATA general manager Mark Huffer. “But we have a lot of concerns about this proposal’s ballot language.
Translation: We don’t give a shit what the voters say, if it takes cash from our pocket then they can die in a fire.
I think spending at the airport is totally out of control. It’s been under construction since the 80′s. Only the KC City Council and the KCMO School District are better at wasting money.
Speak for yourself Jazo, I think spending $1.2 million on the billboard looking art piece was a great use of funds. As is the new trumpet looking thing they are going to construct in the long-term parking lot round-about. Nothing illustrates a world class city like paying NY artists huge sums of money to ‘create’ such amazing art*.
*In this case art=shit.
Well, since the Kansas side won’t have a light rail line running to KCI and JoCo users of KCI would be in mortal terror of leaving their car parked anywhere in KCMO other than the airport to then use the train, just boost the parking fees a little so that the rich flyers can pick up the slack.
Jazo, I don’t think that’s the attitude of the KCATA. They’re the ones who will end up running the thing. It needs to be realistic. It isn’t yet. It’s too early to tell how much it would really cost and how much we’ll get from the Feds. Chill out!
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Compared to other airports or cities our size, parking at KCI is virtually free. For most people it’s much easier or cheaper to just pay for parking than to bother with the expense of a shuttle or the hassle of the one puny bus route to the airport.
So If Light Rail is run from Union Station to KCI they will have to deal with it. But what they are really doing is starting the smoke and mirrors– they are trying to make sure that the Light Rail plan goes from Union Station to the Plaza for a foo foo train ride for tourists and fur coats. If we require that the line serve the airport it will serve the people. I would pay ten dollars a ride to the airport so that I would not have to go out and pick up and drop off the visitors I have come to Kansas City. The drive to Union Station is easier and closer for everyone south of the river.
Just watch Chastain will go for the river market to the plaza.
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