It’s yet to be seen if the changes will reduce shuttle waits. He said he will also look into traffic management and signs to better direct motorists on crowded airport roads, as well as curbside options for passengers with disabilities.Īnd Bheodari said he has authorized the start of planning to expand international terminal parking. In an attempt to alleviate congestion caused by motorists picking up and dropping off passengers at the curb, the airport will now allow motorists to park for free in airport-run decks for up to 30 minutes, Bheodari said. “Is there anyone in charge of airport operations who cares?”Īmong the issues contributing to long waits are gridlock on airport roadways amid parking deck construction at the domestic terminal, along with heavy traffic at the international terminal. “We felt trapped in the endless shuttle line,” she added. Milton resident Stephanie Batcos said she waited more than 90 minutes for the shuttle after a trans- Atlantic flight earlier this month. “Hartsfield-Jackson does so many things very well but this situation has become an international embarrassment,” Kimbrough wrote in an e-mail to the AJC. ‘We felt trapped’Ĭraig Kimbrough, a traveler who lives in Atlanta, said he recently helped an elderly Dutch couple who waited more than an hour in line for the shuttle following their long international flight. The shuttles also help international passengers connect to the rental car center. Instead, the airport relies on terminal-to-terminal shuttle buses to transport arriving international passengers to the domestic terminal where the MARTA station sits or to return to their parked cars on that side of the airport. While there is a Plane Train beyond the security checkpoints to whisk ticketed passengers between terminals and concourses, outside of the airport there is no train to carry people between the terminals, which are miles apart on opposite sides of the airfield. “My team is going to have people monitoring this more closely.” “We’re getting those buses in rotation, along with bus drivers,” Bheodari said Wednesday. Only last week, days before the AJC article, council approved a resolution for a six-month extension of the shuttle contract that said contractor A-National Limousine was performing services “in a satisfactory manner.”īheodari told Farokhi and the committee his “entire senior team went out there” on Tuesday to review the shuttle operation, and said the contractor has been following directives from airport management.īheodari said he has now authorized a doubling of the number of shuttles used for the operation to eight. Wednesday’s hearing was an abrupt change in posture by officials and councilmembers. He asked Hartsfield-Jackson General Manager Balram Bheodari to explain the long lines “and what we can do to alleviate it.” is not acceptable,” Amir Farokhi, chairman of the Atlanta City Council transportation committee, said at a hearing Wednesday, two days after the AJC article published online. Travelers at the Atlanta airport say they have encountered prolonged waits for the shuttle buses that connect the international and the domestic terminals outside of the airport. The leader of Hartsfield-Jackson International pledged on Wednesday to improve the airport’s terminal-to-terminal shuttle service, including doubling the number of buses in use, after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on passengers angered over waits of more than an hour.
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