Officials at Denver International Airport hope scattered rental car facilities and numerous shuttles will become a thing of the past in a few years.
On Monday, officials announced that the consolidated rental car facility they plan to build will be located at the site of the current employee parking lot along 78th Avenue, north of Peña Boulevard. It's not clear where the airport will move the employee lot.
"Having a ConRAC [consolidated rental car facility] will provide much-needed room for growth, a better customer experience and a more sustainable program, especially if coupled with a people-moving solution to eliminate rental car shuttles," said airport CEO Phil Washington in a statement Monday.
Washington said the airport expects to see a 26% increase in rental car demand in coming years, as passenger traffic nears 100 million.
The growth in traffic will help fund the rental car project. Earlier this year, DIA increased facility fees on rental car users from $2.15 to $6.
The consolidated facility will add capacity on a smaller portion of land, opening up the existing rental car facilities for other potential uses such as parking or commercial development.
According to airport officials, the 78th Avenue location leaves open the possibility of extending a train or other type of automated people mover to the facility, parking and other facilities along 78th Ave. At the airport terminal and concourses, DIA has still not figured out a transportation solution in the rare situation that the train malfunctions. That happened earlier this month, briefly stranding crowds.
The rental car facility plans come along with other major changes at the airport, including the ongoing Great Hall project and long term plans to build 100 additional gates and four new concourses and extend the main terminal.
It's unclear when DIA might break ground on the project, but the airport plans to put out a request for proposals for contractors in late 2024.
