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We have moved into a new airport here in IND and it got me thinking about the best and worst parking lots for employees.
I have worked at LAS, SEA, SMF, OAK, RNO, IND.
LAS was the closest, with it being the whole ground floor of the garage. You could show up a few minutes before your shift and walk right on in.
SEA was the farthest away, but it was the nicest. It had enclosed shelters with restrooms, benches, vending machines, and even a coffee stand.
SMF was not that good but you could walk to the terminal within 5 minutes if you had to.
OAK--I was in the old UA hangar lot. Nothing nice about it except you could also walk within 5 minutes if need be.
RNO--Same as OAK and SMF.
IND is not that nice either. The buses never run regular and are small. Cold outdoor shelters. It is just far enough away so that walking is not an option.
I have never had to pay for parking, since my employer has always covered it but I have heard that there are some expensive lots out there.
How about where you work?
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I bid the hanger so I drive right up to the hanger. I prefer it that way, I can just get in my car if I want to go eat something or get a power MONSTER drink at the gas station for a needed lift of energy. I just pull in and there is my job. Otherwise, if I bidded the line, I would have to drive up to a hanger, where the van shuttle takes us to the zones. Takes a little more time but not bad overall here in IAH. When I travel, I park at the employee parking area, then take a shuttle to the airport terminal, runs like minutes behind one another, and makes it to the terminal in about 15 minutes. I leave my car parked there till I get back. Doesn't cost me a dime. Great benefit.
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I now park right infront of our building, but when I worked in the actual terminal I had to park in the staff parking lot which was about a 5min bus ride away. Worst part of that? The bus dropped you off about a 1-2min walk from the terminal, even if it was freezing cold and raining. For the life of me i could never understand why they didn't drive that extra bit because there was a road.
The worst here is the QF staff parking lot, which is a 10min bus ride from the airport (to avoid tax on the land i think) with scheduled buses. If i worked there i'd want to make sure I made that bus!
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Our lot kind of sucks (MDW-Chicago). It's a ten minute shuttle bus ride away and you have to catch the bus every 15 minutes.. As a result, it requires careful timing in order to arrive to work on time usually leaving an extra half hour early.. On top of that, it just drops us off in the standard "arrivals" area in the front of the airport. From there it's about a 15 minute trek through the airport to get to where we need to be to clock in.. Tack all of that onto your normal commute time and it makes for a pretty long pilgrimage to work every day.. I've been doing it for years so it's all pretty routine, but I'd love it if we had a better parking situation.
OH, and we have to pay $20 a month for it.. http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e..._DIR#>/dry.gif
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<div align='center'></div>PDX - Not a bad situation for parking, but I have seen/heard much worse. Negatives: The parking lot is approx 5 miles from the terminal. About a 10min+ ride. At the terminal, it only makes 1 stop so all of the employees in the North terminal (DL/UA/Skywest/Co/US) have a longer walk to check in. When TSA took over (they share the lot with us) the busses were jamm packed at start times and off times. Since then, they have staggered their shifts. The 7 shelters where the bus stops are not heated, the parking lot is approx 1/2mile long. No where to potty if you need, you gotta hold it as there are no businesses around. In the past 14yrs, our vehicles have been damaged 3 times, of course no one left a note on the window. Hope to pay them back some day. Late at night, their schedules run from the A/P to the Lot approx every 15min.
Advantages: Busses run consistantly during the day. One in the lot as the other departs,and the busses are newer. They can also "drop" to allow handicap access if needed. Most of the drivers are pretty friendly and helpful. There is plenty of storage for crew bags just in front of the doors that are in the middle. To be green, all busses run on natural gas.
I get my parking for free, however I have heard the going rate is $40/month
