Sure, some people fly to Detroit. But if you’re on the highway between now and January 8, keep an eye out for these three classic red cars from the collection of LeMay – America’s Car Museum, in Tacoma.
The vintage red cars – a 1957 Chevrolet Nomad, a 1966 Ford Mustang and a 1961 Chrysler 300G – are traveling as a pack on a 2,400-mile road trip from Tacoma, Washington back “home” to Detroit for the opening of the North American International Auto Show.
The Drive Home, as the event is called, is making stops along the way for rallies with local car enthusiasts in Boise, Salt Lake City, Grand Juction, CO., and various cities in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Michigan.
Check the schedule so you can be sure to get an up close visit with these cool cars – or drive your vintage car along.
My At the Airport column on USA TODAY each December is a round-up of some of the best new amenities airports have introduced through the year.
Here are some of the highlights from 2015.
Taming transportation
During 2015, a wave of airports around the country, including those in Chicago, Las Vegas, Louisville, Sacramento, San Diego and Washington, D.C. (both DCA and IAD) hammered out deals with ride-hailing services such as Uber/UberX, Lyft, Sidecar and Wingz to legally pick up and drop off passengers at the terminals.
Look for that trend to continue in 2016.
Helping others
Following the lead of airports in Denver and Columbus, Ohio, in January 2015 — when all the Super Bowl fans were flocking to town — Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport put out spare change collection boxes to begin raising money for the on-site USO hospitality center. In April, Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) in Allentown, Pa., added change collection stations to raise funds for a variety of local charities.
Helping moms
During 2015 many airports made space for properly equipped lactation stations for nursing mothers. Chicago O’Hare International Airport now has three Mother’s Rooms, while lactation stations and nursing rooms have been added at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport, Jacksonville International, Spokane International, Newark Liberty, JFK, LaGuardia, Pittsburgh International, Boise Airport and others.
Soothing stress, helping health
More airports are adding pet therapy programs to help fliers deal with the stress of traveling.
In September, Sacramento International Airport introduced the Boarding Area Relaxation Corps, (B.A.R.C.), which welcomes pet therapy dogs and their handlers to the airport twice a week, while in October, Denver International Airport introduced the Canine Airport Therapy Squad, referred to as C.A.T.S.
Other stress-reducing and health-inducing amenities we noted during 2015 included the beach oasis — complete with Adirondack chairs, umbrellas and artificial turf — set up inside Philadelphia International Airport during snowy February, and the healthy eating campaign at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport that handed out free fruit for travelers, along with prizes.
Complimentary treadmill desks were installed this year at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and, at JFK Terminal 5, JetBlue opened a rooftop lounge complete with dog walk, and created a farm out in front of the terminal where a wide variety of herbs and vegetables are now growing.
Fuel for the flight
Healthy airport dining options — both sit-down and take-away — are on the rise and, in addition to the many upgraded great restaurants (and bars) rolled out this year, we saw the introduction of several free apps, including Grab and AirGrub, that allow travelers to order ahead, skip the line and streamline the task of purchasing a meal inside the airport to take to the gate or onto the plane.
Unique amenities, events and milestones
While SFO and DEN airports offer a mobile car-washing service in their airport parking lots (fees range from $24.95 to $49.95), travelers who park in the garages or in the outside parking lot at Spokane International Airport can get their cars washed for free. (Technically introduced at the end of 2014, I learned about this unique amenity in early 2015 and hope it catches on.)
In addition to being named the Grand Marshal of the Starlight Parade for the Portland Rose Festival, during 2015 the quirky carpet being replaced at Portland International Airport continued its reign as a social media darling, leading passengers to take a closer look at airport flooring nationwide.
To help with the year-long celebration marking the 20th anniversary of Denver International Airport, the Colorado Lottery created a special edition $2 scratch ticket game featuring four iconic images of the airport and, picking up on the newest old-fashioned craze, this year Dallas Love Field has a giant coloring wall in the terminal. Whenever the picture gets filled in, all they have to do is wipe the surface clean and start over.
Did you spot a cool new amenity at an airport during 2015 that I didn’t mention?
Good news from Las Vegas, Chicago and Denver for travelers seeking more options for getting to and from the airports.
On Monday, San Francisco-based Lyft became the first ride-hailing service authorized to provide service to and from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.
Ride-sharing heavyweight, Uber, has not yet cleared the airport’s permitting process, But the company says it is working on that.
Meanwhile, ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft and Sidecar will be able to legally offer pick-ups at O’Hare and Midway airports beginning in 2016. (The deal with the city also allows the companies to provide service at the McCormick Place convention center and Navy Pier.)
And April 22, 2016 has been set at the opening day for the new commuter rail line that will run between Denver International Airport and Denver’s downtown Union Station.
The Regional Transportation District’s new A Line will make the 23-mile run in an estimated 37 minutes.
Tickets will cost $9 one-way, but for that same $9, travelers will be able to purchase an Airport Day Pass that will allow unlimited bus and rail rides, including to and from the airport, for one day.
My “At the Airport” column on USA TODAY this month is an update on what’s happening with ride-hailing services at airports. Here’s the story:
After detours and disputes, many major airports are successfully hammering out deals with ride-hailing services such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar.
That means more and, often, less expensive ground transportation options for many travelers.
Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced that, beginning Nov. 1, Uber and Lyft would be added to the list of authorized ground transportation options at Washington Dulles International and Ronald Reagan Washington Airports.
At the end of August, the Los Angeles City County approved a permit process that will allow Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), as the ride-hailing services are also called, to pick up passengers at Los Angeles International Airport.
Lyft, which already has operating agreements with 16 airports, is currently going through the permitting process at LAX, said airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles, but while representatives from Wingz, Opoli and Uber say they intend to apply, as of last week, no other TNC, had submitted an application for a permit.
“In the meantime, TNCs may continue to drop off passengers at LAX, but they cannot pick up customers,” Castles said.
In July, San Diego International Airport signed permits allowing Uber and Lyft to join ride-hailing service Opoli in offering pickup and drop-off service at the airport and, at the beginning of September, UberX began operating legally at Sacramento International Airport.
Airports in Seattle and other cities are working on and/and or close to announcing agreements with ride-hailing services as well, and if Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new budget plan moves forward, ride-hailing services will soon be officially allowed to pick up and drop off passengers at O’Hare and Midway Airports.
“It wasn’t a question of when services such as Uber and Lyft were coming to airports or how to keep them out,” said Kevin Burke, President and CEO of ACI-NA, the organization which represents most commercial airports in North America, “The big challenge for airport directors was how to regulate the services,” given the various governing models in place at the nation’s airports, he said.
To help move things along, ACI-NA put together a task force that examines the services and offers suggestions to airports on how to negotiate a deal that works for everyone.
“Airports want to provide options for passengers that are coming in and leaving, and if Uber and Lyft are viable options, then we should be providing them,” Burke said. At the same time, though, airports need to make sure passengers are safe and airports need to protect themselves as legal entities, he said.
In 2013, airports in the U.S. and Canada earned $3.1 billion from parking and ground transportation fees, so airports need to make sure the agreements they work out with ride-hailing services protect that revenue as well.
“As we move along we’ll see more and more airports solving these challenges,” Burke said,” but each airport has a different story and there will likely be some snags.”
One of those snags is in Florida, where last week Broward County Commissioners spent more than six hours debating regulations that would have allowed Uber to operate at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
“They provide a very good service, our customers want to see that service, and we want to work with them to get that service here,” said Kent George, director of the Broward County Aviation Department, but negotiations between Uber and the county have “been difficult.”
George said while the airport looks at ground transportation services more as a customer service than a revenue center, he’s confident Uber won’t walk away from the large South Florida market, which includes 26 million annual passengers at Fort Lauderdale, 40 million passengers Miami International Airport and more than 7 million annual passengers at Palm Beach International Airport.
“The airports are working together and I believe we will eventually get to ‘yes’,” George said.
