 | | Tampa
International Airport peoplemover approaching the main terminal from
Airside A, June 2000. Photo by David Pirmann. |
If you're a transit fan "stuck" in Florida for a weekend,
there could be worse places to spend some time than at the Tampa
International Airport. No less than 7 different "lines" serve the
terminal buildings.
The Tampa Airport has a unique system of "airside" pods
connected to the central core by monorail-style people mover
systems. Each pod is serviced by two tracks with a 1-car or 2-car
shuttle going back and forth on its track. The oldest ones were
installed when the airport first opened circa 1971-1975 (airside B, D,
E). Both Airside B and Airside E are currently closed for rebuilding;
Airside D had it's 24 year old shuttle cars replaced within the past
few years. The newest pods, Airside A and Airside F, have two-car
trains on each track. The cars are serviced at the airsides, a bay
underneath the platforms is visible when arriving at Airside A, for
instance. The platforms have edge doors that resemble elevator
doors. The Airside A line is somewhat different from the others; it is
curved and slopes downhill from terminal to pod. It takes
approximately 45-60 seconds to travel between terminal and pod.
The short-term and long-term parking decks are connected
on Level 5 by a people mover loop system. There are three stations in
the terminal (well, it's really four but one is on a single-track
section and the car doors open on both sides- they call this two
stations), and four in the parking desk, each named for a famous
aviator. The small cars change ends at the single track stub at
Sikorsky/Yeager station, stop at Armstrong station (still in the
terminal building) and run in a counterclockwise loop around the
parking structure (making stops at Wright, Jannus, Goddard, and
Lindberg stations) before returning to the terminal, with a stop at
Earheart station (directly across from Armstrong station). Inside the
parking structure there is a loop track for holding out of service
cars. The cars operate similar to a horizontal elevator. Each station
has a monitor showing the locations of the cars and there is a "press
to call" button like an elevator. You can also walk between the
stations along the trackway, which is on the other side of a fence.
|
|
