An economic impact report for San Francisco International Airport released earlier this month showed soaring business activity and a record 51.4 million passengers served in fiscal year 2015. The Business Times summarized that report, observing that the airport received $7.5 billion in direct business activity. One part of that: This year, the airport's 15,000 parking spaces are expected to generate $108 million according to the city controller's office.
So why, as the Chronicle reports, did SFO see the need to quietly jack up prices on parking? As you may have been surprised to find upon arrival at the airport, overnight parking has gone from $18 to $25 a day in the long-term garage, and parking at garages A and G for the international terminal went up from $28 to $36 a day.
For these changes, airport spokesperson Doug Yakel gave reasons that appear at odds with one another. "We have been messaging for some time now the variety of options available to get to SFO,” Yakel told the Chronicle, indicating that the airport would like to see patrons use BART, taxis, and ride-hail cars to get to and from their flights. That's fine, until you hear how Yakel says that the extra revenue will be put to use: by building another long-term parking garage.
Supervisor John Avalos notes that SFO is "doing just fine," with or without more money from parking. While the city gets a cut of airport parking revenue, that share is capped at 15 percent, with the rest all going to the airport itself. You know, I do hear reports that there's an airport in Oakland...
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