Its not a new idea, a number of airports, including LA, Baltimore, and San Diego are doing it, and O’Hare and Midway are opening "cell phone" waiting lots so folks can wait in their cars to pick up arriving passengers and not continuously "cruise" the airport, adding to traffic and congestion.
I have used the cell phone lot in LA and its great. I was, however, virtually alone. Its not as popular in LA as it seems to be in Chicago, where 50 people used the lot on the first day. The reason might be publicity. I found the LA lot simply by driving by. I had heard nothing about it in the media. It seems like they just put up a sign and that was it.
We are a people driven by the media. If you advertise it, they will come. Its that simple.
The Lots are convenient, and due to the vagaries of air schedules and baggage handling, give meeters a place to wait, read the paper, or just relax while their meetees are finding their way from the plane to the curb.
Its just a good idea made possible by technology. Cell phones have
become ubiquitious. Why not take advantage of the devices and solve a
number of problems at the same time.
