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Old Jan 7, 2016, 7:41 am
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IAD - Tunnel Access to Garage 1 Closing

Starting Monday, January 11, 2016, the tunnel from the Terminal to Daily Garage 1 will be closed at the north end for Metrorail construction. Shuttle buses will connect passengers from the Terminal to three stops along the south side of Daily Garage 1.

http://www.mwaa.com/about/temporary-...685.1452168352
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Old Jan 7, 2016, 8:13 am
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Note that this "temporary" closing is for two years.

I believe there is still walkway access to Daily Garage 2.
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Old Jan 7, 2016, 9:38 am
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Yes, this is to build the station which will be "near" but not at IAD after all these years of waiting.
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Old Jan 10, 2016, 11:58 am
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....and people wonder why DCA is so popular! After your "walk" from the metro at IAD to screening and then the walk from the train to the C or D gates, one quickly realizes that you would deal with none of that if you just flew out of DCA.
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Old Jan 10, 2016, 1:25 pm
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This issue was pure small-mindedness. It was projected to cost an additional $350 Million to place the IAD station itself inside the terminal. Terribly unfair to burden commuters and local taxpayers with that additional cost.

But, unlike other airports, no willingness to fund the inside station by tacking on a surcharge for the IAD stop to pay for its additional cost. I would be very surprised if travelers even remotely noticed an extra $2-3 on their Metro fare and it certainly would have attracted a large slice of IAD travelers who would have been quite happy to take an escalator down from the Arrivals level to board a train into DC. We'll see what happens if this thing opens.
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Old Jan 12, 2016, 3:16 pm
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Originally Posted by Often1
Yes, this is to build the station which will be "near" but not at IAD after all these years of waiting.
I work in one of the big black buildings at IAD, and one of our perks is free parking in our employee lots during travel and we just walk through the tunnel. So the new Metro station will be slightly closer to the main terminal than my office is. It's NOT that long of a walk. I have rheumatoid arthritis and I can do it just fine.
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Old Jan 12, 2016, 5:05 pm
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Originally Posted by jcwoman
I work in one of the big black buildings at IAD, and one of our perks is free parking in our employee lots during travel and we just walk through the tunnel. So the new Metro station will be slightly closer to the main terminal than my office is. It's NOT that long of a walk. I have rheumatoid arthritis and I can do it just fine.
Good on you.

But, every marketing survey undertaken pointed up that overseas travelers who are the backbone of IAD, won't schlep their bags to a Metro station which isn't in-terminal the way the station is at every other modern terminal in the world.

Of course the current design is serviceable. It will have to be. IAD can be just like OVB in the 1950's. Maybe without the monument to Stalin.
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Old Jan 13, 2016, 7:24 am
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I just think it odd that such a short distance is considered "a schlep" and also not in the terminal. Yes, technically it's not in the main terminal. But it's so close as to be negligible... you go down an escalator in the main terminal and through a short underground hallway. If you'd never been here before you may not realize it's not inside the terminal. It's not like you have to hike out in the weather to another building or grab a shuttle like for the rental cars!

I also keep thinking that this walk is about half (or less) of a hike from one terminal to another in O'hare!
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Old Jan 13, 2016, 8:01 am
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Originally Posted by Often1
Good on you.

But, every marketing survey undertaken pointed up that overseas travelers who are the backbone of IAD, won't schlep their bags to a Metro station which isn't in-terminal the way the station is at every other modern terminal in the world.

Of course the current design is serviceable. It will have to be. IAD can be just like OVB in the 1950's. Maybe without the monument to Stalin.
Metro @ DCA is not "in-terminal", yet seems to get ample traffic from passengers.
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Old Jan 13, 2016, 8:03 am
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Originally Posted by jcwoman
I just think it odd that such a short distance is considered "a schlep" and also not in the terminal. Yes, technically it's not in the main terminal. But it's so close as to be negligible... you go down an escalator in the main terminal and through a short underground hallway. If you'd never been here before you may not realize it's not inside the terminal. It's not like you have to hike out in the weather to another building or grab a shuttle like for the rental cars!

I also keep thinking that this walk is about half (or less) of a hike from one terminal to another in O'hare!
Agreed. If I understand the schematic correctly, it's about halfway to Garage 1, isn't it? Are folks complaining that it's not directly adjacent to the baggage claim? Or right out the front door? I'm not convinced that where they've located the station is going to deter people from using Metro to IAD, especially if the moving walkways are dependable or they have other consistent, dependable ways to get folks and their luggage from baggage claim or to check-in.
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Old Jan 13, 2016, 10:59 am
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Originally Posted by dchristiva
Agreed. If I understand the schematic correctly, it's about halfway to Garage 1, isn't it? Are folks complaining that it's not directly adjacent to the baggage claim? Or right out the front door? I'm not convinced that where they've located the station is going to deter people from using Metro to IAD, especially if the moving walkways are dependable or they have other consistent, dependable ways to get folks and their luggage from baggage claim or to check-in.
The station will be directly in front of the garage; still, it will not be a terribly long walk.
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Old Jan 13, 2016, 3:28 pm
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Originally Posted by 14940674
The station will be directly in front of the garage; still, it will not be a terribly long walk.
Correct. Even less of a "walk" considering the moving walkways. I know they currently run a shuttle to/from the parking garages. If those continue, that adds another "walk-free" way to get to the Metro.
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Old Feb 1, 2016, 1:43 pm
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Okay, now that the tunnel is closed, I need to take a trip next week. If I park at Daily Garage 1 where do I pick up the shuttle to the main terminal? Seems like it would be on the terminal-facing side of the garage but now that's a big pit. Reading through the airport's website only says that the shuttle is available round the clock, nothing about where it might do pickup/dropoffs in/at the garage.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 7:06 am
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Originally Posted by jcwoman
Okay, now that the tunnel is closed, I need to take a trip next week. If I park at Daily Garage 1 where do I pick up the shuttle to the main terminal? Seems like it would be on the terminal-facing side of the garage but now that's a big pit. Reading through the airport's website only says that the shuttle is available round the clock, nothing about where it might do pickup/dropoffs in/at the garage.
Good question, and I do not know the answer. Since the beginning of this year, I've started parking in the other lot and making the walk to the terminal. I timed it and, even from some of the outer reaches of the lot, it took me the same amount of time as from Garage 1.
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Old Feb 8, 2016, 1:10 pm
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Originally Posted by jcwoman
Okay, now that the tunnel is closed, I need to take a trip next week. If I park at Daily Garage 1 where do I pick up the shuttle to the main terminal? Seems like it would be on the terminal-facing side of the garage but now that's a big pit. Reading through the airport's website only says that the shuttle is available round the clock, nothing about where it might do pickup/dropoffs in/at the garage.
The terminal-facing side of the garage has a roadway for the shuttle bus. There are bus stops at the three elevator bank/stairwell locations.
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