If you are flying out of Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks anytime soon, you will notice some big changes. The new ground transportation center is now open.
The project took five years to build and officially opened on Wednesday.
Instead of the rental car facilities being scattered throughout the airport like they were, nine rental car companies are now under one roof.
The Airport Authority said taxpayers did not pay anything for it. The $210 million project is paid through bonds and backed by rental car user fees.
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Bradley International Airport
From now on, instead of having to take a shuttle to get your rental car, you can just walk from the terminal over to the new ground transportation center where you can pick up and drop off rentals.
“As a result of the opening, we will be eliminating a lot of congestion on the terminal roadways. This will also eliminate a lot of shuttle buses, which means that there will be fewer emissions and more of an environmental footprint that's being created. And then the other benefit for those who are not looking to rent a vehicle, but are coming to the airport, is that we will be increasing our parking by about 10 percent with the opening of this new facility. There will still be covered and uncovered parking available based on demand," said Connecticut Airport Authority PIO Alyssa Sisic.
Depending on which rental car company you choose, they are split up on different floors of the building.
Officials at Bradley say right now, leisure travel is down about ten percent compared to pre-pandemic numbers.
