New Car Rental Site at S.F. Airport

San Francisco International Airport is promising an end to rental car chaos Wednesday, when it is scheduled to open a $131-million centralized rental center.

Since 1996, car rental companies have been scattered around the airport in temporary locations while work continued on the new center, which at 1.2 million square feet is billed as the largest such facility at any U.S. airport.

Starting Wednesday, if all works according to plan, arriving passengers will exit at the airport terminal’s upper level and be whisked to the new center via shuttle bus. The center’s five-level parking garage holds 3,000 vehicles and customer counters for Hertz, Avis, Alamo, National, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise and Thrifty.

The rental center is part of a $2.4-billion upgrade of the airport that includes plans for a new international terminal by 2000 and an airport BART station by 2001.