Airport taxi zone upgrade improves passenger safety

Sunshine Coast Airport will start work on upgrading the taxi zone for passengers in late October, as part of a commitment to improve passenger safety and traffic management around the airport.

The upgrade includes a new traffic island to separate taxis from other vehicles, a new all-weather shelter, video monitoring system to ensure taxi availability and a new designated wheelchair-loading bay.

Sunshine Coast Airport general manager Peter Pallot said the upgrade would improve the management of taxi transport at the airport and enhance the safety of passengers.

“Traffic is increasing at the airport, particularly around peak times. This new infrastructure will help reduce congestion and improve traffic flow by increasing the available space for taxis at the main pickup point from two to seven, as well as providing a dedicated lane for taxis picking up passengers.

The works will be directly funded by a $2 taxi service fee that will be applied to taxi fares leaving the airport from next month.

Mr Pallot said the taxi service fee would also be used to improve ground transport infrastructure, along with initiatives to grow passenger numbers and develop new routes to the region.

Suncoast Cabs general manager John Lobwein said Suncoast Cabs fully supported the service fee and the associated benefits resulting from improvements to airport facilities and services.

“For us, the safety issue is the big winner with this reconfiguration project, and the live video camera onsite will allow us to monitor passenger demand at all times,” he said.

Upgrades to the taxi pick-up area are expected to take around three weeks to complete, weather permitting. The taxi service fee will be introduced when these works are completed in November.