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Originally Posted by brando
You don't have a way to add any more security checkpoints or ticketing counters but you are going to be adding a significant amount of passengers with that plan. The current expansion adds gates and those facilities you need.
You also have more cars using the same lanes with the same amount of parking. new terminal on the south side with a parking lot reflecting the capacity of the terminal and splitting vehicle traffic between two highways.
Doing extensions to the current terminal is cheaper to design, build and operate but a south terminal is a better experience for the passenger because of less crowding and waiting. Practically every airport has multiple terminals with trams. That isn't a big deal as long as you can afford to build the tram and don't have to bus people over. The big drawback is a smaller place for "airport cargo" and on the other side of the grounds.
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I flew out last month and it was so crowded. Granted it was one of the busiest times of day during the busiest months. While the eastern expansion will help somewhat I cannot imagine keeping the airport as one terminal with piers because of the reasons you listed.
First of all traffic was just a nightmare with people just idling without passengers at the drop-off area, which admittedly could be mitigated by better enforcement.
Security was as bad as ever but I have a hard time blaming the airport layout for that, because Checkpoint 1 is almost always faster than the others and considering the airport was designed before 9/11 it makes sense that the older checkpoints just aren't as capable as one that just opened two years ago.
Past security was just mind-numbingly busy with people. I've noticed that people tend to cluster around the central concessions area, and so I imagine that regardless of any expansions short of building a new terminal, people will continue to cluster there.
It'd provide a decentralization of facilities that would be a much better experience, I'd argue for both passengers and employees.
As for transport between the terminals, I think a tram would be most likely, followed by just a walkway, but I'd argue that a tram has an added security benefit in controlling how many passengers can transit between terminals at once, and having inherent control points. Frankly I'd be happy with anything that isn't a Mobile Lounge à la Dulles which they're thankfully phasing out.