Uber /Lyft central parking?
 

I remember reading that Uber was supposed to move to central parking for pickups at Logan starting in Oct. Does anyone know if this has actually gone into effect? I can't find info on the Web or at the Uber website. I am arriving tonight with heavy baggage into terminal C and I might be inclined to take a cab if I have to walk much less further. Thank you.

Signs posted within the airport of a 04 Nov effective date for the move of ride share app pick ups to Central Garage.

Thanks!!!

So went through Logan a few hours ago and the signs now say 28 October.

Wonder if they are staggering start by terminal? Signs in terminal B on Monday clearly said 04 Nov. Will see what terminal A says this weekend.

But glad the different date didn’t impact you this evening.

Interesting! My observation was terminal C (I think I mentioned that up thread). Will be interesting to see what they say in A!

I had a really sweet Uber driver who carried my heavy bag into my house on arrival :)

As of this past Sunday terminal A says 28 October. Confirmed today that terminal B still says 04 November.

Guess since this change has no upside and all negatives for terminal B they migrate last to the new central location. Much longer walk, outside to get to hamster trails?, and no new benefit...

Here's a story from yesterday's Boston Globe on the subject:

Central Garage for Uber, Lyft

Should I be surprised that this is what passes for journalism at the Globe?

Signs in E on Monday also said 4 November so B isn't the last to go — though this change is probably worse for B than for E

Consider the target audience for an article about Ride Share companies.

Chris Muther is actually a very good writer. Always interesting stories about travel and entertainment.

It seems to be more of a paid advertisement rather than a balanced article. Very little of relevance to the traveling public who I would assume would be his audience as a travel writer.

He fails to point out terminal B is currently a 1 minute walk to a ride share location that is covered, well light, and with easy pull thru for drivers. Significantly less then his optimistic 6.5 minute test run. Or that deadheading from app rides is no worse than the same deadheading by taxis (that this new policy benefits taxis as they still are permitted curb access). Or why private cars dropping off family and friends are not required to use the central parking area. Aren’t they deadheading?

Is the audience whomever appoints Massport members? Yes, his assessment of my head exploding at the thought of Massport corruption is correct.

I don't really like the snarky attitude of the article. I have no choice really but to withhold judgement until the new system goes into effect, but sometimes I have heavy / awkward bags without wheels and what might take him 5 minutes would certainly take me longer. I will be curious to see how the app handles it. Now you put in your ride request and have time to walk to the pickup spot. If the cars are really waiting at central parking then there should be no wait under the new system, which means you won't hail your ride till you get there. That's not so bad, but I do check the Uber price before I hail and if it's high on a "surge" I'm happy to take a cab. New system makes it harder to do that, but does benefit the cabbies, who are otherwise a dying breed.

He writes with snark, yes.

And the difference between family dropoffs/pickups and ride app companies is much greater than the difference between the ride app companies and cabs, who should be treated the same.

As an individual who drops off and picks up family and friends regularly, Logan has gotten impossible to reach curbside in the past 2 years. Getting any group into a slightly remote location will be good for pickups, but also good for buses who often have to wait many minutes just to get to their dedicated curbs (have you seen the backups between B and C?) and for emergency vehicles.

Also, Muther writes commentary. There is another news article about the changes.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...C0J/story.html

Yes the backups between B and C are horrible! I usually tell my driver that I'm happy being let off at the arrivals level, and they are happy to do that. But, interestingly, they are letting app rides drop off curbside in the mornings. I do think there's a difference between dropoff and pickup - catching a flight is stressful enough these days without adding in time for a walk.

Since the Globe article is restricted to subscribers, here is one that details the timeline:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wcv...-plan/29519274

On a positive note, Massport has finally acknowledged that their plan discriminated against the disabled and are working on a way for pax to self identify which will permit curbside pick up and drop off at all terminals. Will be interesting to see how Uber and Lyft execute this within the apps.

Any reports from Logan? Apparently day 1 was rather chaotic, with riders and drivers having trouble finding each other. I'm doing the dance next week myself.

I’m still not a fan but it is rolling out smoother than LAX.

Figure about 15 minute walk from terminal B exit, assuming there is not a line to access the required elevator. (this was with carry on baggage)

From AA ticketing take one up escalator (or elevator if needed), two people mover sidewalks, then everyone must take an elevator down to the ground floor. Then find your “terminal” to meet your ride. (oh yes, and instead of Muzak we get to listen to a political speech from the governor over the length of the long walk). Marking of path is great at points, bad at others but plenty of “helpers” to offer directions.

Then plan on a 7 - 30 minute wait for your ride. Recommend you text the driver your “terminal” as apparently the Uber app is glitchy and sending drivers to the wrong spot. Happened to me and several others while I waited. MassPort “helpers” claim this is due to driver cluelessness, but my UberBlack driver says it happens daily since the transition and he has been driving at Logan for over 10 years.

The promised WiFi inside the garage is spotty.

Number of parking slots for cars is about 4x was the old B lot. Good thing because each “terminal” is divided into four sections and there is no one spot to see all drivers entering so the lag between car arrival and departure is significantly longer than the old system.

Supposedly mobility challenged are permitted curbside pick up (Uber app gives instructions how to request) but wheel chair attendants assisted several people to this new centralized lot that I witnessed including one person using two canes who walked the full distance. Not sure if the curbside pick up isn’t functioning, or just poorly promoted and wheel chair attendants are capitalizing on increased business.

If the goal was to create new low skill jobs and encourage taxi use then it is a resounding success.

Ugh. Sounds like about what you'd expect from Massport - inattention to detail. I bet the cab drivers are happy though.

Do you call for your ride at the terminal, and they somehow calculate your walk time, or do you wait till you get to the pick up spot? GPS probably won't work well in there so hard to tell where you actually are, I'd guess, but maybe I'm wrong.

I waited until I got to the spot as I had no idea where or how long it would take to get to Central Parking. Heard the app may restrict ordering in advance due to distance to pick up location but didn’t try so YMMV.

Thanks!

Have done it twice since it was rolled out for Terminal A. There is some confusion with riders and drivers. For riders, I think some people are failing to put their right location in the app. Uber prompts you when at the airport, but someone told me Lyft has not yet modified. For drivers, it sounds like the turn-off into the garage is not well-marked and some drivers are not aware of the change, so you get to watch them on the app as they drive past the turn and have to circle around again. Hopefully this will all work itself out as drivers and riders become more familiar with the change. Overall though, it is not bad, and unlike the old pick-up spot for Terminal A, you are under cover while waiting for pick-up. The walk is a bit longer, but most of it is inside and you can use moving sidewalks for a good portion of it.

Signs suggest not ordering the ride until you're at the pickup area, but since GPS is spotty at that level of the garage, that seems questionable. Lyft app has you specify which terminal area to be picked up at.

Just used it last night at Terminal C. Not really a big deal getting over there except for the logjam trying to get down the elevator in the garage. Within the terminal, since you have escalators easily available from even baggage claim to bridge level, it can help reduce the elevator clog to get up to the bridge. I suppose if they were designing the garage entrance today, they'd probably put an escalator down from the end of the bridge to level G.

I waited until at the pickup area to request ride. Lyft app couldn't autolocate, but instead just went to a list of pickup areas. So yes, if you don't know which terminal's pickup area you're in, it wouldn't work, but it was easy to just scroll the list for terminal C.

Plenty of waiting room and parking bays for drivers, only issue was everyone on the "platform" was clustering in the middle, making it hard for folks arriving to get out of the roadway to wait. Kinda like the Harvard Square T station - move down and use the whole platform!

Provided there's not a logjam at the garage elevators, I'd say it's only slightly longer from Terminal C to the pickup spot, and will be far more pleasant when raining. My driver said that it's been much easier so far on his end.

So there are different pick locations for each of the terminals? I didn't realize that, though I'll find out in person soon enough.

I recently noticed that the morning drop offs on the Arrivals level (started yesterday I think) won't apply to Terminal C at some point this winter "due to construction" so allow a bit of extra time if you're going to C in the morning. IIRC this changes happens in December.

Yes, just as before there is a separate area within the garage for each terminal. I've only seen C's, but if the others follow, they'll be located fairly close to where the pedestrian bridge from that terminal "lands" on the garage side. It doesn't appear that MassPort yet indicates exactly where the pick up areas are on airport maps, though the signage from C was pretty good.

Not surprised about C one bit - it's probably got the worst curbside setup of any terminal at Logan given how tucked in a corner it is.

So I came in a few hours ago via A. The signage right at baggage claim could have used a few directional arrows but other wise was fine. Over in central parking, I just walked down the 3 flights of stairs. Took me about 6 minutes from the terminal.

BUT, I got hosed in exactly the way I have been concerned about. Looked at the ride fares while in the terminal and saw $32 to my home, which is more or less normal. When I got over to the pickup area to actually take the ride, the fare was $83! Now they can do whatever they want with surge pricing, that is their business, but as a consumer I was quite annoyed that I did not see that price until after I'd missed to easy chance to take the competition, a cab. Was that intentional? I would not put it past them, they have my location, but it should be a bit weak while indoors.

I was quite annoyed and just walked back the 6 minutes and gave my business to a zero wait cab, which cost me $44, a normal cab fare.

The last time my wife came in to Logan she confirmed a ride for a reasonable price, but then the driver called and said she "couldn't make it" so she had to try again, and got the crazy surge price. We both bet that the driver dropped the fare because she saw she could get a lot more by accepting a new ride. (My wife had to cancel.. not the driver... adding to suspicions). That was before the app ride move, so she had no issue just walking over and taking a cab.

It's not going to take more than one or two more such experiences for me to give up on App rides from Logan. There's no wait for cabs these days :)

There were some folks hanging out around the app ride areas looking at their phones. I don't know how long the surges last. Perhaps you can game it. By the time I'd walked back to the terminal I was seeing Uber quotes in the low $70s. But I was not going to give them my business at that point.

The problem with the new area in Central is that GPS doesn't work in the garage.

If they wanted a REAL solution, they should have put this rideshare area near/across from the MBTA blue line stop, and encourage people to take the Massport shuttle there. Then, when people see the huge mess, they're more inclined to take either the blue or silver lines (SL3 serves the blue line airport station and goes to South Station)

Flew into BOS last night with a lot of baggage from a family camping trip. Grabbed a cab. It runs about $10 more to my house, and there's less legroom in the back for me with the divider, but no interest in hauling all that gear over to central parking. The taxi operators are getting what they want out of this deal. Plus, there's no wait for a cab these days, they are lined up waiting for us. I still take Uber in to Logan as it's a pain getting cab service out in the burbs.

New Globe article about the Central Parking Lyft/Uber program: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...52M/story.html

With the new pickup scheme, this workaround for BOS pickups could be more feasible in good weather:

1. Take free Blue line shuttle to Airport station.
2. Enter Airport station, use crossover to walk across the tracks to the Bremen St Park entrance/exit (this staircase is outside fare control, on the left side of the station - do not enter the fare gates)
3. Exit station, walk across the park
4. Request lyft/uber from the park entrance, approximately at 42°22'31.3"N 71°01'52.9"W (you can search that as a location in google maps)

It will also likely be cheaper since the pickup is outside of the airport, so no Massport tolls/airport surge. You cannot request a lyft/uber from the bus area of the airport station; you need to walk across the park.

My plan: free Silver Line to South Station / Red Line to MIT Kendall Square / Elevator up to Marriott, Lyft/Uber from there to my Cambridge destination.

That's actually the second time today I'd seen that plan of catching the Uber/Lyft at Bremen St. (first was on Reddit) Awesome hack. ^