Pittsburgh and Boston are both experimenting with new airport ideas: one to welcome more non-flying visitors, the other to charge a toll for dropping off passengers.
The Pittsburgh experiment, newly approved by TSA, calls for allowing people without tickets to pass through security, starting Tuesday, to wave goodbye or greet passengers and—undoubtedly the heart of the plan—to shop at the airport’s Airmall. It’s the first time since September 11 that non-passengers will be allowed through security. They will request a day pass at a special counter and will then go through the regular security screening (with preference given to passengers).
When the Pittsburgh airport was built in 1992, the Airmall, really the first in-airport shopping center, was the hub of the building, intended to function like any other upscale mall. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, it’s in an area that’s now behind security. Add to that the loss of hub status that kept Pittsburgh busy, and you can see why they’d want to get more people in!
Boston, meanwhile, is trying to keep people away, or at least studying the idea. Boston’s Logan airport has been getting busier, and its operator, the Massachusetts Port Authority, wants to add 5,000 parking spaces. The plan was challenged by the Conservation Law Foundation, which believes it will add to congestion and pollution.
In return for the foundation dropping its opposition to the parking spaces, MTA has agreed to a two-year study of a plan to charge drivers a toll to drop off or pick up passengers. More than 20,000 cars a day pull up in the passenger drop off and pickup zones at the airport. It’s not clear what alternative is being thought of.
Photo: Pittsburgh Airport Airmall (photo by Pittsburgh International Airport)
