Tampa International Airport director Joe Lopano has big ideas for the future development of his airport, and he laid out the details of his most recent master plan on Monday morning before the HART board.
The question he and his staff have been working on is succinct: How can they maximize the 3,300 acres that the Aviation Authority controls to generate more revenue? He said the original design of the airport from 1971 is "brilliant," but there is the dilemma of running out of space, which needs to be answered in regards to future growth.
The congestion at the curb sides and the shortage of parking in the 3,500-space long-term parking garage are among the areas where space is already a problem. That's where the South Development Area plan kicks in. The plan considers putting services like car rental facilities, taxi staging, and new retail stores and restaurants, in the space where the post office and cell-phone waiting lot currently exist.
To facilitate the plan, Lopano intends to go "back to the future," and dramatically build up an Automated People Mover (APM). In fact, when it opened, TIA was the first airport in the country to introduce that mode of transportation.
