Editorial: Parking at Bob Hope may drive higher revenue

While Bob Hope Airport officials are trying to make sense of the fluctuating revenue from parking operations there, they have come up with some meaningful plans to improve the experience for air and rail travelers.

One of the best moves they’re hoping to make — pending approval of Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority — is to reopen existing parking areas that have been closed for a couple of different reasons: temporary dips in demand, and to allow for work on the new transportation center.

Now operational, the transit center houses multiple rental car companies and an elevated moving walkway that can allow visitors to get to and from the airport’s terminal smoothly. It’s proposed that spaces in a lot just north of the transportation center, a relatively short distance to the air terminal, would be reopened for public parking to be used by rental car customers and priced attractively enough to appeal to rail users who commute to work by Metrolink and need to get to the station situated across Empire Avenue from the center.

Plans are also in the works for a bridge to cross Empire, allowing rail commuters to move from that station to the second floor of the new center, which will add another layer of convenience for travelers.

Using the new moving walkway to their advantage, airport officials are also looking to reopen a parking area further north, so passengers can take an elevator or escalator to the transportation’s second floor and use the walkway to get to the terminal relatively quickly.

It’s clear, since the parking lot closest to the airport’s terminal is jam-packed before the sun barely has time to rise each day, that passengers short on time and laden with bags do not want to be forced to walk very far once they’ve found a parking space for their vehicles. So anything airport officials can do to open up spaces within a reasonable sprint of the terminal is welcome.

Also, it appears passengers are willing to pay more for the convenience of walking to the terminal. The existing lot closest to the terminal costs $23 a day, While no rates have been set for the new parking areas, officials have said they will fall somewhere between the $23-a-day lot and Lot C, which costs $13 daily. That will likely boost parking revenue, which is a significant part of the airfield’s revenue stream.

We commend airport officials for eyeing these proactive and creative steps to enhance parking convenience for passengers and hopefully improve the airfield’s bottom line.