Logan parking costs may soar
Governor proposes adding $2 'carbon fee' to lot, garage rates
In the same month that Logan International Airport hiked its parking rates by $1, Governor Deval Patrick is asking for another $2 parking "carbon fee" as part of his transportation overhaul filed this week.
The carbon fee, described on page 137 of Patrick's 141-page bill, would that mean a 20- or 30-minute trip to pick up a relative at Logan could cost $6 in parking alone, not including tunnel tolls, which could rise to as much as $7 if legislators fail to pass Patrick's other proposal to raise the gas tax. Three hours in a Logan garage would cost $18; all-day parking in a garage would run $26.
Boston's short-term rates are currently higher than those in the nation's largest cities - from New York's LaGuardia to Los Angeles International, to Chicago's O'Hare.
"It makes me never want to park here," said Pam Nagy of Sutton, who was hauling luggage into Logan on Friday.
Patrick's transportation secretary, James A. Aloisi Jr., said he will be glad if people stop parking at the airport and use public transportation to get there, a sentiment that has led several environmental groups to endorse the parking fee.
"It should not be inexpensive to park at convenient facilities in the middle of Logan Airport," Aloisi said. "We need people to understand that there are better ways to get to Logan."
He wants the parking fee - which requires approval from the Legislature - to be used for improvements to airport-related transit projects, including a proposal to build a new tunnel under South Boston to speed up the Logan-bound Silver Line bus service, and the initial phases of a long-term plan to build a transit loop around the city. Based on Logan's most recent parking figures, the new fee would probably raise about $5.4 million per year.
But many who travel to the airport come with bulky luggage or young children, making public transit a harder sell, if not an impossibility.
Ben Kaplan pulling a cart piled high with luggage and accompanied by his wife and two young sons, said taking public transit would be tough for his family. "We'd be more likely to take a cab," he said.
Cab rides to and from Boston usually cost a minimum of $20 to $30, depending on traffic, luggage, and tolls, which are higher for taxis. The rates are substantially higher for suburban trips.
Aloisi's comments, and Patrick's proposal, represent a shift for Massachusetts, just 14 months after the state finished building a $15 billion tunnel project designed in large part to improve driving access to Logan.
Aloisi said the plan is also designed to get the agency that runs Logan, the Massachusetts Port Authority, to do a better job of dealing with public transportation from the city to Logan, "to have some skin in the game." The plan takes the Tobin Bridge out of Massport's control, using the $10 million in toll profits it generates every year to fund statewide transportation.
In turn, the state would pay Massport about $185 million, but that money would also be set aside for airport-related transit improvements.
Aloisi said he expects resistance from Massport, though he would not say from whom.
"I anticipate that the naysayers and the people who want to stay in isolation will try to raise all kinds of concerns and questions," Aloisi said. "They're going to make it difficult because people don't like their cozy little worlds disturbed."
Aloisi said that with "real reform . . . cozy, little worlds don't exist anymore."
State Senator Steven A. Baddour, a Methuen Democrat who cochairs the Legislature's transportation committee, supports taking the Tobin Bridge out of Massport's hands.
He proposed the same change in a Senate transportation bill submitted before Patrick's plan was unveiled.
But adding another parking fee would result in diminishing returns, he said.
"We can't just price ourselves out of the reach of working families," he said. "There's still working people that have to go to Logan to travel."
Baddour said he frequently flies out of Manchester, N.H., a competing airport, "in part because of convenience, but it's also cheaper."
Logan's cheapest economy parking lots charge rates similar to the terminal garages for short-term parking. It is now $7 in lots and garages for an hour and would go up to $9 if the $2 fee passes.
The day rate at the economy lots is $18, which would rise to $20.
Massport's chief executive, Thomas J. Kinton Jr., declined a request for an interview. Spokeswoman Danny Levy said Kinton would not discuss the bill before his board has reviewed it.
Aloisi, a lawyer, has tailored the plan to avoid conflicts with Federal Aviation Administration rules, but it could still face legal challenges.
Charles Erhard, manager of the FAA's airport compliance division, said he has not reviewed Patrick's and Aloisi's plan, and would not comment on it directly.
In general, fees collected by airports must be used in the airport or for facilities "owned or operated by the airport owner or operator" that are related to air transportation of passengers and cargo.
Whatever happens with Patrick's plan, some travelers have already opted out of Logan's garages.
"We never park here. It's too expensive," said Fay Kelley, a Northborough resident who was returning from Florida with her husband last week. "We take a limousine. It's cheaper than parking here and they pick you up right at your house."
Globe correspondent Stewart Bishop contributed to this article. 