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Pittsburgh Corning
Case Study Two
Ronald Reagan National Airport's Parking
Patrons Follow Lighted Glass Block as Wayfinder System
In the months before the first sod was ceremoniously turned
to construct the new terminal at National Airport, planners
of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority were busy
conducting exhaustive passenger surveys. Officials wanted
to determine just what is it, in the minds of air travelers,
that makes for a safe, efficient and pleasant airport experience.
Chief among the topics covered in the survey were passengers'
local commuting preferences - how they arrived at the airport
and traveled through it once they got there.
The new terminal project was a massive undertaking, designed
to accommodate more than 16 million air passengers per year.
According to Dan Feil, FAIA, airport design project manager,
the research showed that about 60 percent are picked up by
private vehicles, taxis or hotel or other shuttle buses; another
20 percent use the Metrorail (METRO); and the remaining 20
percent of passengers - or 3.2 million per year - use parking
garages. Armed with this information, planners set about designing
the new terminal, roadways and parking facilities.
To accommodate dropping off and picking up of passengers,
a new two-level terminal roadway system was constructed, offering
expansive curb space and travel lanes - eight lanes for the
baggage claim lower level and five lanes for the ticket counter
upper level. The separate roadways for arriving and departing
passengers already have greatly reduced traffic congestion.
The two METRO farecard plazas have direct access to the terminal.
Two ground transportation centers on the baggage claim level
provide information on METRO, taxi service, door-to-door shuttle
van service, Washington Flyer Bus service and rental cars.
And easy-to-read signs direct passengers to airline and commercial
services.
The three new parking garages created 5,300 commercial parking
spaces. Garage A serves mostly daily and rental car parking
patrons, and will lead into the historic Terminal A via a
tunnel, currently under construction. Garages B and C are
dedicated to hourly and daily parking, and are connected to
the new B and C terminals via pedestrian bridges.
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