Airport considers scaling back construction

Future parking demand uncertain at Hartsfield-Jackson.

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport officials are considering whether to scale back plans for parking construction, as increased use of Uber and Lyft and the prospect of self-driving cars creates uncertainty around future parking demand.

The Atlanta airport’s $6 billion master plan calls for demolishing and rebuilding its aging parking decks next to the domestic terminal.

The original plan was to tear down the two four-level parking decks originally built roughly 40 years ago, and rebuild eight-level parking decks, with a planned 15,000 parking spaces on the Terminal North side and 17,000 spaces on the Terminal South side. The project was estimated to cost $550 million to $750 million in 2014 dollars.

As Uber and Lyft entered the market and companies began developing self-driving vehicles, that plan was later scaled back. The design was scaled back to a planned eight-level parking deck on the Terminal South side where Delta operates and only a four-level deck on the Terminal North side.

Now, “We’re going to have to ask ourselves the question, ‘Do we still need eight levels on the South side?’ ” said Hartsfield-Jackson interim assistant general manager of planning and development Tom Nissalke.

With autonomous vehicles on the horizon and Uber and Lyft affecting parking usage, airport officials will again review parking demand. “We’re at an interesting point in the evolution of automobiles,” Nissalke said.