No end in sight to traffic jam inside airport

No end in sight to traffic jam inside airport
By C S Hemanth, DH News Service, Bangalore:

It’s not just the runways that are clogged with flights at the HAL Airport but also the parking bays which are choc-a-bloc with vehicles, leading to a mess at the third busiest airport in the country.
With a sudden increase in flights, the number of passengers has also shot up. And the two four-wheeler parking bays at the airport which can hold no more than about 200 vehicles each, are now accommodating about 500-odd vehicles in each.

Traffic jams
Airport officials concerned told Deccan Herald that the two parking bays, one each at the arrival and the departure points, along with the two-wheeler parking area, have been forced to squeeze in more vehicles than actual capacity, leading to ‘traffic jams’ inside the airport premises. “The parking space was actually designed to accommodate about 200 vehicles but now they hold more than double that number. In the peak hours (8 am to 11 am and 4 to 8 pm), “the airport is literally clogged with vehicles,” says Jayanna, a supervisor of the parking operations.

Apart from the parking spaces at the arrival and departure, vehicles are allowed to make a ‘stop’ of about 20 seconds near either terminal to pick up or drop passengers.
However, these arrangements are inadequate, says Bangalore Airport and Taxi Drivers Association. “Several unauthorised taxis are seen at the parking bays for days on end without any questions being asked by the authorities,” it says.

Traffic police personnel at the airport also blame the lack of space at the parking lots for the ‘traffic jams’ inside and outside the airport premises. “The long queue-up of vehicles at the airport sometimes spills into the busy Airport Road, causing more traffic jams,” they say.

NO ELBOW ROOM
Airport officials say steps have been taken to increase the parking space by providing a separate lot to Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation pre-paid taxis and also to put a check on unauthorised parking by installing check-posts at the entry and exit points.
“As there is hardly any space left on the airport premises, it is impossible to provide more parking space. Besides, it is not clear whether this airport will continue operations after the new International Airport is commissioned,” the officials say .