New Rental Car Center, Curb Changes, Improved Signage and Passenger Screening Add Up to Better Service

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Port Authority and its partners are making a series of changes at Boston Logan International Airport in September designed to make navigating the airport better. Throughout the month and in advance of the opening of the new $310 million Rental Car Center, Massport will use new color-coded signage in the terminals to direct passengers to new terminal curb assignments that will improve traffic flow and get passengers to their destinations faster.

“The curb changes and the new rental car facility are proactive environmentally friendly improvements that will simplify movement through the terminals,” said Chairman of the Massport Board and Transportation Secretary Richard A. Davey. “I am pleased to know that travelers to and from Boston Logan will not have to look far for sustainable, high occupancy travel options, like the MBTA system.”

As part of the curb changes to promote high occupancy vehicle use, stops for the Silver Line and Blue Line shuttle buses will be closer together and in the middle of the terminal curb. Overhead countdown clocks will tell passengers when the next bus is arriving. Digital signage inside the terminals, already in place in Terminal C and parts of B, and to be rolled out airport-wide in the months to come, will also tell passengers when the next bus is and where to pick it up. New color-coded signage will direct passengers to the transportation mode they desire. Some 20 extra staff in brightly colored “Ask Me’’ shirts will be in the terminals and on the curbs to assist passengers. The changes will be phased in, starting with Terminal A on Sept. 4 and ending with Terminal C on Sept. 20.

“Logan is ranked as one of the nation’s easiest airports to ‘breeze through’ and we want to make sure that continues at the curb,’’ said Thomas P. Glynn, Massport CEO. “The changes at the curb, the improved signage, and the passenger screening will all make getting through Logan even easier.’’

Changes will also be made at the curb area of the Airport MBTA Station on the Blue Line on Sept. 25 to coincide with the opening on the new Rental Car Center.

To improve the screening process, the TSA at Boston Logan is using real-time threat assessments to direct additional passengers to the TSA PreCheck lane where certain familiar routines are waived, such as removing shoes and laptops from cases. The TSA already includes members of the Armed Forces, children under 12, seniors over 75 and most frequent fliers in the program, which is currently in use in Terminal A, Terminal C and in the American side of Terminal B.

Some parts of the curb changes are being done in advance of the opening of the new Rental Car Center later this month. The RCC will have space for all nine rental car companies -- Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty -- that have operating agreements with Logan to work in one common building. There are significant customer service and environmental benefits by consolidating their operations in the southwest corner of the airport.

The RCC includes a new unified shuttle bus system operated by Massport. Departing passengers will be dropped off on the upper level of their airline’s terminal where they can then proceed directly to ticketing, baggage drop and security. Shuttle buses will pick up arriving passengers on the lower level of each terminal before taking them to the RCC or MBTA Airport Blue Line Station. The new shuttle system is expected to reduce terminal curbside congestion by making bus loading and unloading simpler and quicker.

Diesel powered rental car buses will be eliminated entirely from the airport roadway as bus traffic drops from about 100 buses per hour to 28 fuel efficient clean hybrid buses. As a result, shuttle bus vehicle miles are expected to drop by 70 percent with an accompanying 35% decline in airport-related emissions.

Boston Logan, 15 minutes from the intersection of Route 128 and I-90 and five minutes from downtown Boston, serves as the gateway to the New England region and offers nonstop service to 75 domestic and 34 international destinations and in 2012 handled 29.3 million passengers. Boston Logan is served by two public transit lines and is the Air Line Pilot Association’s Airport of the Year for 2008 because of its commitment to safety. Over the past decade, the airport spent $4.5 billion on a modernization program that includes new terminals, public transportation access, parking facilities, roadways and airport concessions, and has been transformed into a world-class 21st Century facility. The airport generates $7 billion in total economic impact each year.

For additional information, including detailed diagrams of the curb changes and new signage, visit www.massport.com. You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/bostonlogan and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/bostonlogan.

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) owns and operates Boston Logan International Airport, public terminals in the Port of Boston, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport. Massport is a financially self-sustaining public authority whose premier transportation facilities generate more than $8 billion annually, and enhance and enable economic growth and vitality in New England. No state tax dollars are used to fund operations or capital improvements at Massport facilities. For more information please visit massport.com.

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