COM: Adelaide Airport Carpark & Pedestrian Plaza

[fifty]

Used the new facility a few times over the last month now. I must say, I am VERY underwhelmed by this development.

Which modern airport development such as this has the drop-off areas on a different level and so far from departures?? If mega airports like BKK and SIN can have their dropoff zones within a 15 second walk of the check-in gates, then I reckon little ol ADL probably could as well. Unbelievable this could have been accepted in the design given it will be decades and much higher flight traffic before another facility is developed.

Having drop-offs and pickups compressed in to the one area only spells carnage during peak times.

The whole approach seems to be designed around semi-permanent parking, rather than drop-offs and public transport. Is this some new trend in airport design? I would have thought the latter far outnumber the former? Certainly every airport I visit around the world, and that's several dozen a year, do not follow this approach.

The maze one has to navigate to access the hire car area is just dumbfounding. Can someone please explain the physical barrier between drop-off/pickup zone and the hire car offices?

Seriously, whoever designed this doesn't fly much. I am flabbergasted and dismayed again in the half-hearted corner-cutting approach in this city.

[how good is he]

I agree it's a shocker of a plan but have been told its a federal initiative based on security and the terrorism act that airplane terminals and mass populated areas need to be moved away from places where terrorists could easily drive vehicles loaded with explosives.... Seems bizarre as what's to stop them walking in with suitcases full of them??

[build 'em smarter]

I agree it's a shocker of a plan but have been told its a federal initiative based on security and the terrorism act that airplane terminals and mass populated areas need to be moved away from places where terrorists could easily drive vehicles loaded with explosives.... Seems bizarre as what's to stop them walking in with suitcases full of them??

Yep, or blowing up a van in the pick up/drop off area that is now very busy with lots of people.. Terrible thoughts but seems like they have not addressed the issue if that is indeed the issue.

[waz94]

If mega airports like BKK and SIN can have their dropoff zones within a 15 second walk of the check-in gates, then I reckon little ol ADL probably could as well. Unbelievable this could have been accepted in the design given it will be decades and much higher flight traffic before another facility is developed.

Having flown into SIN I don't remember it being a 15 second walk from car drop off area to check in gates. Slight exaggeration there to make a point I think.

Seriously how lazy are we becoming as a society. It may not be 15 seconds but with new Adelaide setup it's no more then 60-120 seconds. And there's the people complaining how far the new bus stop is. Add another 30-45 seconds and your there.

And all this will be even quicker when the new plaza is fully open.

People aren't happy unless they can park their car next to the plane on the Tarmac and then get carried to their seat.

[Maximus]

Definitely inclined to agree with you, Waz. The walk from the carpark to terminal is less than 100m. You walk further than that from security screening to your departure gate. And I reckon the plaza will look great once it's fully completed.

The only bit I do still find slightly odd is having the pick-ups/drop-offs in the same area. Drop-offs would have been better on an elevated road running through the edge of the new carpark (i.e. directly above the existing drop-off/pick-up area), so as to separate the two groups of passengers and also remove the need for departing passengers to use the lifts. Minor quibble, though.

[fifty]

Definitely inclined to agree with you, Waz. The walk from the carpark to terminal is less than 100m. You walk further than that from security screening to your departure gate. And I reckon the plaza will look great once it's fully completed.

The only bit I do still find slightly odd is having the pick-ups/drop-offs in the same area. Drop-offs would have been better on an elevated road running through the edge of the new carpark (i.e. directly above the existing drop-off/pick-up area), so as to separate the two groups of passengers and also remove the need for departing passengers to use the lifts. Minor quibble, though.

The distance is not the problem, it is the fact they are on a different level. You can wait 60sec just for a lift to arrive! It's nothing about being lazy, it's about doing it once, doing it properly, something this state can't seem to fathom. This part of the design is just unforgivable. Your idea about having drop-off's on an elevated level same as the departure hall is exactly what should have happened.

Re SIN, taxi drop-offs for all three terminal are on the same level (of course) as the check-in hall, literally outside the door.

[AtD]

I'm going to throw this out there:

ADL is way better than JFK and LAX from a passenger's perspective. It's more open, cleaner, has better services and is less of a cluster-fuck. Obviously some of this is due to its smaller size, but I was shocked at how poor these major airports are. Hell, Canberra is better than some of LAX's terminals.

[Xaragmata]

Pics from Friday

[SRW]

Thanks for the photos Xara. The plaza is shaping up to be seriously impressive.

[Maximus]

It's nothing about being lazy, it's about doing it once, doing it properly, something this state can't seem to fathom.

Yes, I do agree with this. Unfortunately I think most of the time it's about money -- i.e. we can afford something that's not perfect but is a vast improvement on what was there before, or we can just leave it and do nothing at all. Clearly most of the time you'd choose the former. Having said that, though, in this case I don't think the issue was money. There's been a lot of thought that's gone into the design of the car park and you can read all about it in the major development plan for the project. One of the biggest design intents was to remove the conflict between pedestrians and vehicles. Within the constraints of the location of the new car park, I can't off the top of my head think of a way to put drop-offs on an elevated road without pedestrians (i.e. those who have parked their car) needing to physically cross that road.

Perhaps you could send a polite email to Adelaide Airport management and ask them about it(?). I sent them an email expressing my dissatisfaction with the state of the terminal toilets a few weeks ago and they replied within the day. Then you could share the reply with us and we'd all be a little bit wiser.

[metro]

I dont like the big long line of cars extending from the terminal carpark out onto sir donald bradman drive during the peak hours, this has only been happening since the new drop off area opened

[SAR526]

Thanks for the photos Xara. The plaza is shaping up to be seriously impressive.

On the whole, I endorse SRW's comment. Nevertheless the last of Xaragmata's pictures was taken from the public transport island which is as far from the terminal's passenger portals as it is possible to be while still part of the complex. Note the right angled zebra crossing across a bus park. Note the lack of shelter. And, although it is behind the camera, why is the present bus shelter so nondescript and completely at odds with the rest of the buildings? It doesn't even have directional signage visible from the lift area. Only the presence of a bus, which has passed him as he leaves the lift and often leaves just as the intending passenger reaches it from the rear and is unable to see its destination indicator, tells the visitor to Adelaide that he might be able to continue his journey by the cheap and fairly frequent Metro system. Why don't the buses stop under the awning like the airport shuttle ones do?

I've written about this before and was advised to wait until the work has finished, but this all looks permanent to me and, having had occasion to use it frequently recently, I am not happy. The former terminal went for YEARS without shelter or even seating, and I sense a deliberate neglect of public transport needs in favour of the private car and the taxi industry. ALL transport terminals should be easily accessible by the Metro system. Neither the airport nor the interstate rail terminal in Adelaide meets that criterion.

[Wayno]

was advised to wait until the work has finished, but this all looks permanent to me.

What PT facilities are documented in the master plan?

[SAR526]

was advised to wait until the work has finished, but this all looks permanent to me.

What PT facilities are documented in the master plan?

This is the extract from the master plan that you asked for:

5.8.2 Public Transport
Public transport routes currently access the airport. Bus stops are located on the departures road and along Sir Richard Williams Avenue. The existing departures road stop will be relocated to the new pick-up/set-down road adjacent the car park and the bus route will be redirected to the new bypass road.
5.8.3 Cyclists
Bicycle facilities will be provided for in the proposed car park. Access for cyclists will be via the at-grade road network and parking rails will be provided for cyclists at Level 0. On-road bicycle lanes will be incorporated in the new road cross section.
5.8.4 Future Light Rail Access
Provision in the form of a spatial corridor has been made for the development of light passenger rail to the front of T1 in the future.

As I said, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the provision of the best solution - light rail to the door. It looks therefore as though the current stop, as far as it is possible to be from the terminal proper, and over a route march across the entrance to a bus park, is intended to be the final 'solution'. That is simply not good enough. Put the Metro bus stop under the shelter of the comparatively under-used long-term parking circuit bus area shown in the picture (see my previous posting).

[Norman]

Photos from last night: