Airport Gets ‘Thumbs Up’ Despite Some Frustrations : Transportation: Circuitous path to shuttle buses and hard-to-read signs bring complaints, but most travelers praise the new terminal.

Fresh off a flight from Dallas, Tom and Kimberly Matson stood in front of the new John Wayne Airport terminal on a recent Sunday evening and grappled with the Shuttle Bus Problem.

The buses were parked in their designated lot several hundred feet from the terminal. But standing between the Matsons and that last ride home were a street, a flower bed, a wall and no clear route to the buses. Not to be deterred, the Matsons were last seen scampering over the 4-foot wall, bags and all, and heading in the general direction of the shuttle zone.

With crowds expected to storm the airport this week because of the Thanksgiving holiday--the busiest of the year--other travelers have similar tales of woe and confusion at the new $63-million Thomas F. Riley Terminal, which opened Sept. 16.

Some say outdoor signs are small and sometimes difficult to find. Taxicabs are occasionally in short supply during busy arrival periods, and some late-night jetliners have disgorged passengers onto the Tarmac because all gates were occupied. And some passengers, looking like they have just run a 10-K race, complain that the gate concourse is too long.

But interviews with passengers, airline executives and county officials indicate these are mostly minor glitches, and that most people generally are pleased with the new terminal.

“I think this is now one of the best terminals in the country,” said Nathan Williams, a Dallas-based electronics salesman. “It’s very convenient for business trips, and it’s a 1,000% improvement over what you folks used to have.”

The new structure is 12 times larger than the clogged, 23-year-old terminal it replaced. The cavernous building eventually will handle 8.4 million passengers per year, up from 4.5 million last year at the old Edward J. (Eddie) Martin Terminal.

The airport’s passenger volume soared to a record 474,061 in October-the biggest month ever--up 26% from the same month last year. Airport officials attributed the sharp rise to new flights that were added Oct. 1 and heavier passenger loads.

Parking revenue is also high, said William Pemberton, the airport’s chief of ground operations. That is important to airport patrons because it means prolonged life for a cheaper, remote lot that was rescued from closure only through public protest.

Officials had feared that the $7-a-day lot, located on Main Street between MacArthur Boulevard and Red Hill Avenue, would siphon business from the new parking garages, which charge $14 a day. But business is strong at the garages, so airport officials said the remote lot probably will stay open beyond the 90-day experiment authorized in September.

More passengers are leaving their cars overnight than was expected, Pemberton said. Also, more people are parking in order to go inside the terminal to send off or greet travelers.

Not everyone is pleased, however, with all the changes at the airport.

Noise complaints have surged, from 465 complaints in the 30 days preceding the Sept. 16 opening to 579 in the 30 days following. Airport officials note that the rise in complaints began before any new flights were added to John Wayne’s daily schedule. On Oct. 1, the average daily commercial airline departures increased from 89 to 103, then settled at 97.

“Possibly it was the power of suggestion,” said airport spokeswoman Courtney Wiercioch. “They probably read in the newspaper that noise was going to increase with the opening of the new terminal.”

But the biggest complaint about the new facilities, according to interviews with passengers, is the lack of easy access to shuttle buses. At Los Angeles International Airport, shuttles load and unload passengers at the curb in front of the terminal.

At John Wayne Airport, however, shuttles must park in a designated zone in a parking lot across the street from the baggage claim area. Signs direct shuttle patrons to two crosswalks far north and south of the shuttles, so passengers must follow a long, indirect route. Once on the correct side of the street, there are no signs designating the shuttle area, causing many people to walk unsafely up a busy driveway that leads into the lot.

People who try to walk a straight line from the terminal to the shuttle zone inevitably amble down a stairwell to the underground rental car storage area.

“I can’t believe they designed things this way,” said Carl Schumann, a Miami-based advertising executive who took the stairs by mistake and then, grunting, hauled his suitcase back up. “I guess Orange County people could get used to the system here, but what about first-time visitors like me?” he said. “This is absolutely crazy.”

Last month, Jane King of Newport Beach wrote to airport officials, recalling the painful experience she had while waiting for a shuttle at a time her leg was in a cast.

“After standing for about 10 minutes on a very swollen ankle,” King wrote, “my husband went to find someone to inquire about the shuttles” and he returned with word that they would have to journey forth on foot.

King railed against the ban on curbside shuttles. “It is not only discriminatory,” she wrote, “but unconscionable.”

“They really need more signs out here,” said Curtis Leonard, a computer salesman from Washington who had trouble finding the shuttle zone and then waited more than 15 minutes for his ride. “It was kind of a laugh getting over here,” he said, pointing to a crosswalk some distance away.

Airport officials defend the arrangement by citing a shortage of curbside space and a desire for orderly traffic flow. Airport project director Alan Murphy said officials may move the shuttle area or build an elevated pedestrian bridge over the lower-level roadway.

“We’re putting temporary signs out now to get people into the right crosswalks,” he said. “Right now, people end up walking through the flower beds. . . . We had a good plan, but you never know it’s going to work until you put it into operation.”

Airport officials are puzzled by complaints about the lack of signs. Several said they had personally investigated the situation and found no lack of directions available to airport patrons.

But, often mounted on huge cement pillars, the small placards with white letters on a green background seem to blend in with the architecture. Also, the outdoor signs stop abruptly, so that after you’ve walked awhile, you don’t really know if you’re still headed in the right direction for shuttles or taxis.

Kathleen Jorgensen of Milwaukee was one of several passengers who complained that the half-mile gate concourse is too long.

“My flight was announced at Gate 14 and then they said it was switched to Gate 8 due to a mechanical problem with the loading bridge,” she said. “So I had to run like hell to make it on time, and I was carrying my year-old son.”

A shortage of taxicabs during heavy arrival periods--typically Sunday nights--has been another frequent complaint, although a recent visit found that the longest any person had to wait was about five minutes, which seemed more like 15 minutes to the passengers interviewed.

At times there were six people waiting for a taxi; occasionally there were six cabs and no passengers.

Airport officials said the cab company’s on-site dispatchers are not accurately assessing when more taxis should be called in from a holding zone on Main Street to accommodate arriving flights.

Airport officials originally made no provision for dispatcher-related equipment, believing that it was strictly the company’s problem. Thus, Yellow Cab dispatcher Hal Monroe had to call for additional taxis by asking a departing cab driver to radio company headquarters miles away in order to relay requests to the remote staging area on Main Street.

A battery-operated radio-telephone is now available, however, and airport officials plan to install an electrical outlet for more powerful broadcasts.

Shuttle Bus Maze Visitors to John Wayne Airport’s new Thomas F. Riley Terminal frequently complain about the lack of a direct path to the shuttle buses and hotel courtesy vans, which are located in a parking lot across the street from the baggage claim exits. Crosswalks (A) designated for shuttle patrons are out of the way. Passengers often jawalk (B) or even climb fences. Also, curbside service is limited to only six taxis at any one time, so lines form during busy periods.