TAMPA AIRPORT INNOVATION - PAST, PRESENT AND ... FUTURE?

When Tampa International Airport (TPA) opened in 1971, a whole new way of configuring airport terminals took off. It changed the aviation world of airport planning. TPA is today adding a landside APM to car rentals, parking and transit. It is being designed in intermodal fashion to accommodate future ATN links to a thriving airfront district known as Westshore. This would likely unleash a new revolution in airport development. No wonder this airport regularly wins top ranks and awards!

The TPA terminal complex was designed to pamper passengers -- often elderly who walk with difficulty and fun-seeking tourists who have many choices. Parking-to-gate walking distance is less 700 feet, accomplished by pairs of APM shuttles radiating out from the Main Terminal to up to six airside concourses. Two decades later, a driverless monorail was built into a new large parking garage to adhere to the 700’ rule.

TPA's Main Terminal with parking garage

Car rentals take up several levels of that garage. To decongest the Main Terminal area, airport officials will move them to a a site near the roadway entrance to the airport. This is known in airport circles as a Consolidated Rental Car Facility (ConRAC). A third APM will make it work -- much like has happened successfully at much busier airports in Atlanta and Miami. 

Over the years, airside concourses have been added, modified and demolished, adapting to traffic levels and airline preferences. All the original APM vehicles have been replaced, and controls have been upgraded. The monorail is to be rehabbed or replaced in 2018.

TPA air traffic rose from 10 million in 1973 to 14m in 1979, 16 million in 1996, peaking at 19 million in 2007. It has hovered low due to the Great Recession of 2008. Last year it was 17 million.

PODS ON TPA’S FAR HORIZON

There is no immediate need to increase airport capacity, so TPA is investing in other improvements. One program will enlarge and improve the main terminal with Sweden’s Skanska as DB contractor. The plan includes relocating a few stations of the shuttles to provide more interior space. The other is the new 2.1km, 3-station APM for the ConRAC intermodal complex described above. It is targeted for a 2017 opening.  An intermediary station will serve existing economy (remote) parking. The ConRAC complex has plans for a new employee garage, airport offices, a hotel, retail and maybe planned metro and high-speed rail.

Satisfied with the driverless APM shuttles and monorail, both supplied and maintained by Bombardier, airport officials saw little reason to ponder PRT options for what has been designed as a high-volume link. Procurement is now active, with bids due September 5.

Concept of the Terminal station of the ConRAC link

The ConRAC complex is at the southern edge of the airport’s extensive property.  On the other side of the highway border is the modestly dense Westshore district of offices, hotels, retail and other facilities. This is all located strategically in the center of the sprawled Tampa Bay region, at the western edge of the city of Tampa across the bay from Clearwater and St. Petersburg. It is a prosperous commercial area with excellent long-term growth potential.

Airport officials have specified that the ConRAC complex be designed as an intermodal hub with the possibility to plug in, so to speak, other links, and here ATN may come into play. A visionary outlook is still alive and well at TPA.