A way to beat traffic at San Francisco International Airport

Q What is going on with traffic leaving the San Francisco Airport long-term parking garage?

It took us an hour and 15 minutes to make the right turn to lead us to Highway 101.

We had another driver tell us Uber drivers are blocking the intersection preventing right turns. — Kathy Sorensen A Uber and Lyft are allowed to do both pickups and drop-offs on the upper-level curbside areas. They are not, however, allowed to loiter curbside waiting for a fare.

To reduce congestion, San Francisco International Airport has created a staging area for those drivers on airport grounds but away from the terminals. Uber and Lyft now represent a significant amount of daily activity.

But here is one driver’s tip on beating the traffic. Q A reader questioned the usefulness of 10 free minutes parking in the San Francisco Airport garage, and your answer was only partially useful. I think both missed the real beauty of this offer.

Yes, the cellphone lot is a great benefit, as are several convenient coffee shops and restaurants in the vicinity. However, the choices you make about picking up your guests after they call can save you significant frustration.

I used to have my family get their bags and meet me on the upper departure level, which was seldom as crowded as the loop road near baggage claim until Uber and Lyft started crowding this level. The current gauntlet at SFO on both levels is both frustrating and dangerous.

Now that the free 10 minutes is offered, I have my guests cross through the tunnel to the short-term garage in the center of the loop. They call me with their floor and entrance number, like Door F (orange), fourth floor.

Meanwhile, I drive into the airport, up the empty parking lot ramp, around a tiny loop, pull into one of many open areas near the door to load up people and baggage.

We continue unimpeded around to the exit. I feed my parking ticket to the machine, pass through the gate, down the ramp and directly to 101 north or south all in less than five minutes.

In addition to avoiding taxis, shuttles, Uber, Lyft and aggressive drivers, this inner loop also avoids the treacherous stretch where you inevitably need to cross about four lanes to get to the correct ramp to 101.

But maybe I shouldn’t tell you. I don’t want Uber and Lyft drivers learning this secret. — David Marks, San Mateo A Folks, heed David’s advice — unless you drive for Uber or Lyft.