Will Rogers World Airport's Director of Airports said today shuttle service from the main lot to the terminal has been changing for the last 10 days. "Door-to-door" service has given way to a routine transportation from shelters to the shuttle to the terminal.
"We started a soft rollout last week," Mark Kranenburg said.
Shuttles will now stop at shelters that were completed and ready for use Nov. 12 and went into practice the week of Nov. 19 to pick up passengers. The shelters are spaced out for short walks, Kranenburg said.
The number of shuttles "? nine "? remain the same, however, they will now travel a consistent circuit through the main lot picking up passengers at 10 designated shelters and transporting them to the terminal. Kranenburg said passengers can expect a four-to-five minute trip.
In the past, the airport shuttles traveled the main lot, located north of the parking garage, picking up passengers at their vehicles and taking them to the terminal. The "door-to-door" service was not always timely or safe, Kranenburg said.
"We got complaints that it could take 10 to 15 minutes to get to the terminal," Kranenburg said.
Construction on an additional five-story parking garage is providing the catalyst for change. Spotters with radios on the existing garage would direct shuttle drivers through the lot to arriving vehicles. However, Kranenburg said, construction will obstruct that view, giving the airport an opportunity to enact a more safe, efficient shuttle service.
The main lot has about 2,100 parking spaces. The biggest change to the lot itself is that the spaces marked for the handicapped have been relocated to spaces closest to the 10 shelters.
"Door-to-door" service will continue in the west lot, which has about 500 spaces.
A similar shuttle system has been in place for the northernmost Amelia Earhart lot since its September 2006 opening. There are 990 spaces in that lot.
The $4 daily rate for the main lot will not be changing, Kranenburg said. -Stefanie Brickman
