PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 12, 2023
The Portland International Jetport needs to vastly improve access for an increasing number of travelers. Yet attempts to soften the effects of its parking “crunch” – using an offsite overflow lot and a shuttle bus – have received a lukewarm reception. So it wants to pave six acres of green space and build a large new parking lot. Why act as if something as commonplace as a five-minute shuttle bus journey places an unreasonable burden on passengers or the environment? The problem is not the bus. It’s the cars. A vast expanse of disused parking space at the Maine Mall is ripe for exploitation by airport management. Or shift the onsite employee car park or the space used by rental car companies to the pink lot. Measures like these are successfully used by airports the world over.