D/FW looks at $1 entry fee By Bryon Okada Star-Telegram Staff Writer D/FW AIRPORT - There are no free rides, and the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport staff recommends that there be no free drop-offs either. After consultants reviewed nine options for recouping lost parking revenues, D/FW staff recommended Thursday that all motorists pay a $1 fee to enter the airport, whether they park or not. Four years ago, as the economy boomed, D/FW abandoned a 16-year policy of charging each motorist 50 cents to enter the airport. But with D/FW losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in parking revenues each month and grappling for every buck, the free drop-off may go away as soon as the July 3 airport board meeting, D/FW Senior Executive Vice President Kevin Cox said. "Those were good times. We're now not in good times," Cox said. At an airport board committee meeting Thursday, staff also recommended raising the remote parking rate to $6 per day and covered express parking to $10 per day. Currently remote parking is $5 and covered express parking is $9. Consultants Leigh Fisher Associates looked at reducing the $16 terminal parking rate to as low as $12 but found they could not find a way to entice enough parkers to move to the more expensive close-in parking. Instead, airport officials are focusing on requiring those motorists who currently pay nothing to kick a buck. Board members present at Thursday's Marketing/Business & Concession Committee meeting were split on the idea. Board member Bob McAfee said he was there when the 50-cent charge went away in May 1999 and thought it was a mistake at the time. "Once you take away a fee, it's very hard to put it back in _ it's the perception," McAfee said. Board member Robert Kolba said the $1 fee could be a mistake now. "I hate to penalize the community," Kolba said. Kolba said many motorists will feel they are paying for no reason. He also raised the possibility of converting some underused parking areas into retail shops. If the airport implements the $1 charge, they expect parking revenues to rise by $8.3 million per year. Right now, drop-off motorists cost the airport $11.2 million per year in security and processing fees and contribute nothing in return. The committee could not reach consensus on the matter and will send the matter to the full airport board for a vote July 3. The board meets at the airport administration building, 3200 East Airfield Drive. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************