ORLANDO, Fla. – Having trouble finding parking at Orlando International Airport? You’re not alone.
Because of the crunch, the airport has unveiled new steps to free up thousands of parking spaces in the coming years.
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Last week, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) approved an increase to the Customer Facility Charge paid by rental car customers to $9 per day — up from the previous rate of $6.
The extra funds from that price hike are set to go toward a consolidated rental car facility (dubbed “ConRAC”), which is aimed at bringing rental car operations from each of MCO’s terminals into one place.
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“This consolidation would free up significant space in the passenger parking garages currently occupied by the rental car companies,” a release by the GOAA reads. “The ConRAC is expected to be funded primarily by (Customer Facility Charges).”
Once opened, the ConRAC would instantly open around 5,000 parking spaces in the airport’s A, B, and C garages, GOAA officials told News 6.
Even better, the GOAA explained that the changes could help cut down on traffic congestion around the airport, which would ultimately boost road safety.
While the project’s completion date depends on funding, the ConRAC is currently estimated to be finished by 2032.
In the meantime, though, the airport is implementing plans to bring about short-term parking solutions.
They include:
- Over 2,000 more parking spaces have already been created at the MCO complex, including the three surface parking lots near the Train Station that opened last year.
- A parking reservation system was added back in January for Level 4 of Garage C, though that system has the possibility of expanding throughout the rest of the airport’s parking system.
- MCO has expanded its cooperation with the LYNX bus system to provide better bus service for tourists, cutting down on traffic.
- The airport is planning to install a new high-tech parking space identification system to help identify exactly where empty parking spaces are in the garages. The system would also keep a running total of how many spaces are open to prevent drivers from circling through or congesting traffic.
The ConRAC was included as part of an improvement program that was approved back in June. In total, the preliminary program budget for the rental car expansion program is around $2.2 billion.
As for the Customer Facility Charge increases, those are set to go into effect on Nov. 1.
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