Massport drops $1 increase in parking fees

By Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff

Under pressure from Governor Deval Patrick, the state agency that operates Logan International Airport today agreed to rescind a $1 increase in parking fees it imposed just one month ago.

The announcement by the Massachusetts Port Authority, effective on Friday, marks a sharp turnaround for an agency that has long been accustomed to setting policy without interference from the governor.

On Monday, Patrick's transportation secretary, James A. Aloisi Jr., released a letter written to Massport blasting the parking fee increase. Aloisi's letter rebuked Massport for hitting airport users with higher rates without first looking to trim Massport's $550 million budget. Aloisi also had harsh words for the manner in which Massport imposed the fee hike, saying it was done "devoid of public input."

The letter brought a quick response today from Thomas Kinton Jr., the Massport executive director, and John A. Quelch, its board chairman.

"The governor asked us to rescind the $1 hourly parking increase and we will do so," Massport said in a statement released this afternoon.

Massport said that, without the $1.5 million in additional revenue the fee increase was expected to raise, the agency will cut $7.5 million in its five-year budget for capital improvements to the airport.

Massport insisted, however, that the increase was justified to make up for lost revenue due to a recession-related slowdown in air travel. Parking revenues are down about $4.2 million in the last eight months.

"Our decision to raise the hourly parking was not done in a vacuum," the statement said. Already, the agency has let 61 position go unfilled, about 5 percent of its employees, saving $4 million, the statement said.

However, the agency has not trimmed its 75-member parking crew and recently awarded one of its unions a 7.5-percent pay increase over two years.

While the fee rollback will be a welcome relief for airport users, its effect may be short-lived.

Aloisi is pressing for a separate $2 "carbon" fee to be tacked on to Logan parking rates. He says that fee is intended to discourage air travelers from driving to the airport and to encourage use of public transportation. Such a proposal would require the Legislature's approval.

"We appreciate Massport's willingness to work with us to identify comprehensive transportation reforms," Aloisi's office said in a statement yesterday.

Logan's parking rates are already among the highest of airports nationally. To park for up to 3 hours, for example, will cost $15 at Logan once the rates return to their pre-increase level on Friday. That compares to $12 at LaGuardia in New York; $12 at Los Angeles International; $11 at O'Hare in Chicago; and $4 at Hatsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta.

In his letter, Aloisi wrote that "we need to know if there are additional cost savings and efficiencies that can be instituted" at Massport.

Massport gave no public notice of the rate increase, which became public only when the Globe, citing an internal memo it had obtained, reported the fee hike last week.

Massport and the governor's office increasingly appear to be on divergent paths. Patrick's proposal this year to consolidate the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority with Massport received a cool reception from Kinton.

Aloisi's letter was released to the news media after business hours on Monday, catching Massport by surprise. And Aloisi, who was appointed transportation secretary in Janurary, said recently he expected Massport opposition to his plans "because people don't like their cozy little worlds disturbed."

Patrick is getting closer to taking control of the board of Massport, which is a quasi-public agency with a board of gubernatorial appointees. Two seats on the seven-member board are vacant, and Quelch's terms expires in June. Filling those seats would give Patrick three appointees. Aloisi is also a voting member of the board, by virtue of his position as transportation secretary.

Sean Murphy can be reached at smurphy@globe.com.

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