Good Question: Why haven’t they reopened that airport parking lot?

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Here’s a good question about parking. I’m talking about parking for your next trip if you’re flying out of the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport

One of the lots is off limits and it has been for basically the whole pandemic. The question, why is the red lot at the airport still shut down?

You can’t miss the signs if you’re driving out there. No one can park in the red lot on the north side of Brooks Ave.

People liked using it before because it was cheap, $7 a day max, but you should know when it does reopen, it’ll be $8 a day. Same as the yellow lot on the airport side of Brooks.

We first looked into this last fall. When I spoke with the owner at Mapco Auto Parks, which runs the lots.

Back then, I was told that the “economics don’t work”. There’s just not enough demand. But traffic is picking back up. Airport numbers have been climbing. What now?

This week the owner told me again. It comes down to math. They have about 1,300 spots in the red lot but those aren’t needed yet.

They are currently running at about 75% when it comes to parking levels going back to 2019 numbers. Even overnight, there are way more than enough spots in the current lots to cover demand, which is why the red lot is sitting idle.

They would like to reopen it for customers soon but again, you have to have the need for all the space. They are thinking the upcoming holiday season may bring just that.

So for now, the cheapest spot is 8 bucks a day as I mentioned in the yellow lot.

If you have a good question that you want us to answer, email Brennan Somers at GoodQuestion@whec.com.