Why Fly DCA?

I haven't tried to park a car at what is now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport since the '70s. (In all candor, it was my parents doing the parking then as the local constabulary would have frowned mightily had I been discovered behind the wheel. But the point is still valid.) Given any say in the matter, it will be at least another thirty years before I fall prey to that nightmare again.

Yesterday, I was flying out of DCA. Child care and other considerations made it impractical to be dropped off at the airport or even the nearest metro station, which is still well over one hour from my home. And forget about the concept of a taxi. Driveway to parking spot ran me 94 miles. I don't care to imagine what a taxi would charge for that run, even if I could find one willing to go from my area.

When I got to the airport, MapQuest having served me almost flawlessly well for once, the signs informed me that all lots were full. Short term. Daily. Economy. Probably even the congressional private lot for all I know. Actually that last lot may not exist any more, but I can clearly remember years ago before the first expansions at National seeing signs in a fenced off lot within spitting distance of the main terminal reserving spaces for Representatives, Senators, and Supreme Court Justices.

At the economy lot, the gal in the attendant's booth was less than helpful. No, she didn't know of any off-site parking facilities. Try the hourly garage. (For three days? I'm tending to lean toward "not"!) After thirty minutes of driving back and forth past the lot hoping to see a driver pull out - which is the only way the gatekeeper would let any of us would-be travelers in - I listened to the advice of the radio recording and decided that maybe the hourly lot wouldn't be too exorbitant after all with the miracle of the expense report, especially since not making the trip at all would be even more costly to all involved. I drove past garage B, then garage C, just in time to have orange cones placed in the roadway and the "Full" sign flash red.

Seeing red myself, I trekked back to economy parking world, arriving just in time to see a beat up old red Chevy pickup leaving the lot. On went the turn signal. I stoically ignored the honks and glares from people behind who wanted to get past me or take my shot at entering the lot. With a lot of determined, impolite, and borderline improper language, I finally bullied Ms. Gatekeeper into acknowledging that the truck just leaving had to have occupied a space. Without too much further delay, I was finally granted access to the promised land.

One benefit of attempting to park at Reagan National is that I got to meet a delightful woman. She was wandering about the lot searching for her red Mustang. (There was a lot of red at the airport yesterday, wasn't there?) I drove her up and down the rows, speeding her search and saving the feet of a woman old enough to be my mother, but without any luck finding her car. I did come across another empty space though. Before I could tell her how bad it made me feel to kick her out and wish her the best, she suggested I should take the space and that she would find her car on her own. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I didn't put up even the slightest pretense at wanting to continue driving in circles until we might eventually find her Mustang.

And so it was that forty seven minutes after arriving at the airport two hours early I finally had a place to park. With waiting for the shuttle bus, check in, and security, I wound up reaching the gate ten minutes before boarding. So much for arriving responsibly early and enjoying a relaxed, low stress traveling experience.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is trying to keep up with the times without the physical capacity to do so. The short term garages are a magnificent improvement over what they replace, and made the extensive terminal expansion of the past decade possible. With so much invested in infrastructure, it is clear that the goal is to keep DCA a vital part of the Metropolitan air transportation strategy for years to come. Great, I'm all for that. Changes need to be made though. Slap a few garage decks over the existing economy lot and make the place inviting for the travelers. The other garages have already proven that if they build them then like good little lemmings we will come. But as long as they make it impossible to reliably use the airport at need, more and more customers will find the means to take their business elsewhere.