Parking garage overnight rate increase aims to free up short-term spaces

It now costs $24 to park overnight in the airport’s parking garage. The new higher rate is meant to encourage customers to use the long-term or economy lots for longer stays, freeing up the garage for more short-term visitors.

In an effort to free up room for meeters and greeters and other short-term parking users, Portland International Airport (PDX) overnight rates in the parking garage increased March 1.

With no parking spaces available for short-term use on many recent occasions, the change was designed to encourage more use of the airport’s long-term and economy parking lots for overnight parking. Overnight (daily maximum) garage rates increased from $18 to $24. All other airport parking rates remain the same, including the hourly garage parking rate of $3.

The garage is designed as a short-term parking facility, making it easy to meet and greet travelers, and helping to reduce airport roadway congestion by getting more vehicles off the road. The garage offers 3,300 parking spaces, and overnight parking often fills two-thirds of garage capacity at peak mid-week times.

Behind-the-scenes baggage screening enhancements to simplify check-in

Mark Crosby, chief public safety officer for the Port of Portland, displays a schematic drawing of a new airport baggage screening system being considered for PDX.

Port of Portland and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials are reviewing concepts for the possible design and construction of a behind-the-scenes in-line explosive detection system (EDS). This winding series of conveyor belts would feed checked baggage through numerous large three-dimensional x-ray machines located in the inner parts of the airport, allowing the Port to remove most of the 10 computed tomography x-ray (CTX) baggage screening machines currently crowding the ticket lobby.

The in-line screening system would relieve passengers from carrying baggage from the airline ticket counters to lobby CTX machines, thereby streamlining the screening process and enhancing both baggage and passenger security. Airline employees would accept passengers’ baggage at the ticket counter and place it on a conveyor belt, which would feed baggage through the in-line EDS, all out of sight of passengers.

“We want to design the most efficient in-line EDS possible for PDX, while taking into consideration that baggage screening technology is rapidly changing,” said Mark Crosby, chief public safety officer for the Port. “This is a complex and lengthy project, but worth the wait for a more user-friendly and efficient baggage screening process.”

The Port is exploring the system in consultation with the TSA, and would operate and maintain the labyrinth of conveyor belts. The TSA, with its responsibility for screening baggage, would operate and maintain screening machines.

In preparation for designing PDX’s screening system, Port officials studied in-line systems of other airports, including San Francisco International Airport and Boston’s Logan International Airport. The team also visited the plants of in-line EDS manufacturers to familiarize themselves with current and upcoming baggage screening technologies.

Crosby expects to seek approval from the Port Commission for a design contract this summer. Construction of the system could begin in late 2007 with possible operation in 2009.

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