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Please take the ticket: The cost of Twin Cities airport parking compares favorably
by Elizabeth Stawicki, Minnesota Public Radio
November 28, 2003

MSP Airport parking generates between $40 to $45 million per year. And while about 10-15 percent of that goes towards equipment maintenance and paying cashiers, 50 percent of the revenue pays the debt from expanding and improving the Lindberg and Humphrey parking ramps. (MPR Photo/Elizabeth Stawicki)

On this the busiest of holiday weekends, many air travelers leave their cars at the Minneapolis-St.Paul airport's long-term parking lot. At $14 a day, the price of parking for a long vacation can seem like a small fortune. But what appears to be a high price to pay for convenience isn't out of line with other airports around the country.

Minneapolis, Minn. — The price to park long term varies widely at airports around the country. At LaGuardia and JFK in New York the cost to park long term costs $24 a day compared; in Atlanta it's $8 a day.

The cost to park at MSP long term is somewhere in the middle at $14 a day. Assistant Airport Director Arlie Johnson says that's reasonable when you analyze other airport parking rates and the cost of downtown Minneapolis parking.

"There are off airport facilities that are charging as much and more than what some of our daily rates are here at the airport. So we really felt that leaving those were they were at, or have been at for the past six years, was the right thing to do. We did consciously choose not to raise those along with the shorter term rates," says Johnson.

A random sampling of travelers found perspectives on parking rates across the board. One businessman who declined to give his name said he didn't care about the price of long-term parking because his company pays his expenses. He says he has friends or family drop him off when he's on a personal trip.

Another traveler, Kathy Hollenhorst, a marketing vice president at Carlson Companies, says the rates are not out of line.

"From a business traveler's perspective I think it's reasonable. I've traveled extensively from Minneapolis for a long time and the rates haven't increased that much," Hollenhorst says.

Meanwhile, Craig Meis is waiting near the MSP tram that shuttles travelers to and from parking. He says in his home town of Denver, long term parking costs $15 a day; a cost he says is too much to pay.

"I think it's fairly comparable and that's pretty much a national average; most of the airports around the country charge about the same thing. I think on the low end, they're about $10 to $15 that's were most of them are but I still think that's still pretty expensive. I think cities ought to look at that pretty closely," he says.

MSP Airport parking generates between $40 to $45 million per year. And while about 10-15 percent of that goes towards equipment maintenance and paying cashiers, the airport's Arlie Johnson says 50 percent of the revenue pays the debt from expanding and improving the Lindberg and Humphrey parking ramps.

"The structures that we have in front of the Lindberg terminal doubled in size in 1991 so we're still paying for that improvement there. And then Humphrey Terminal Parking Ramp was completed in November of 2002. So about half of the revenues go to meeting the debt service for those projects," Johnson says.

The remaining revenue also finances roadway maintanence and reliever airports. This coming year, the airport is expected to save $1.5 million by cutting 40 cashier jobs in anticipation of customers paying more often with credit cards.

Johnson says the two parking ramps come close to being full about once a year during spring breaks in March and April. He acknowledges that at one time the airport was encouraging travelers NOT to park at MSP. But he says given the parking expansion that's nearly completed, there's plenty of room now to park at the airport and long term rates probably won't go up for at least another two years.

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