Residents of Decatur in Indianapolis, US, have received approval to open a paid parking lot near the local airport, with revenues going to the community rather than the airport authority.
The private group of residents were successful in defeating strong opposition from the mayor’s office and the airport who claimed that parking is not the best use of land, with a significant portion of the existing airport’s parking facilities currently underutilised.
According to wthr.com, the parking facility will supply covered parking for over 3,700 vehicles, with the revenue being used to help fund the fire department, poor relief, and all township government entities.
This is a really interesting issue and raises a lot of questions: Who is going to fund the construction project? How much will it cost to park there as opposed to the car parks within the airport? How will passengers get from the car park to the terminal and back? How will this affect the already low occupancy of the airport’s facilities? According to the Airport’s website there are many parking options available on site so it will be interesting to follow how this project develops!