Q: I remember the good old days when short-term parking at the San Jose airport involved pulling into a street-level parking space directly across from baggage claim, putting a quarter into the meter, and strolling over the crosswalk to meet a visitor.
John Kelly
A: The good ole days included some not so good moments, too. There was the night a guy in a taxi was trying to get to a departing flight before Highway 87 was built. Stuck in traffic that did not budge for blocks and worried about making his flight, he got out of the taxi, bowling bag in tow, and ran as fast as he could to the terminal. He made it on foot before his flight departed.
Q: I believe the biggest mistake was when the majority of the then-new Terminal B parking lot was allocated to rental car companies, whose cars consume hundreds of spaces across from SJC’s busiest terminal. Rental companies should have gone to the west side lot, where employee parking once was and will be again. Of course, when all that was in the planning stages over a dozen years ago, things were a bit different economically.
Tom K.
A: There was an upside to building the parking garage and moving rental cars next to the terminals. It has helped cut down traffic around the terminals by as much 30 percent.
Q: There used to be a cellphone waiting area on Airport Parkway but it has become an Uber and Lyft parking area on both sides of the street. Can anything be done so that non-commercial people can have a place to park while waiting to pick up friends and relatives?
Michael Singer, San Jose
A: The cellphone waiting area on Airport Parkway is open to the public, including ride-share drivers. Parking is restricted to 30 minutes. Parking enforcement folks know that there are fresh complaints, but don’t often see a violation of the 30-minute restriction there. Time is money for the rideshare drivers, who hope to keep driving rather than to be parked.
SJC has a second cellphone waiting area directly opposite 1387 Airport Blvd. This lot has about two dozen stalls with a 30-minute waiting time limit. Signs state that commercial vehicles are not permitted there. The airport has jurisdiction over this area and monitors and enforces usage of the lot.
Q: I must confess that I sometimes park on city streets near the airport and then take Uber or Lyft to my flight. So far, no one has complained.
John Kelly
A: But …
Q: The locals will be complaining after reading your “confession.”
M.B.
A: That could very well happen.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.
