McNamara Terminal moves aimed at public transport users to Metro Airport

DeAsia Paige | Detroit Free Press

Improvements aimed at people who take public transportation to Metro Airport will be in effect starting Friday, according to airport officials.

On that day, SMART and AirRide customers traveling to and from the airport in Romulus will be dropped off and picked up at the departures level of the McNamara Terminal, which is near the ticketing center, the airport said in a news release Wednesday.

SMART and AirRide buses will stop at the north end of the terminal near Door 1.

"After reviewing procedures at the McNamara Terminal, the airport authority decided to allow regular scheduled bus service providers, which are currently SMART and AirRide, to drop off and pick up customers at designated spots along the north end of the McNamara Terminal’s departures level curb, " Erica Donerson,spokeswoman for the airport, said in an email.

The changes come after the airport received criticism regarding its treatment of disabled customers.

In 2015, the Free Press reported that Metro Airport was facing lawsuits for being discriminatory toward disabled customers after its decision to move a bus stop from the McNamara Terminal to the far end of the Ground Transportation Center (GTC).

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However, Donerson said that prior to the announced moves the airport had worked with disability rights groups to ensure that the needs of disabled customers weren't being ignored.

"A federal court has found the airport authority's current bus stop locations are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements," Donerson said. " However, earlier this year, airport authority leaders met with members of the National Federation of the Blind, at their request, to discuss pickup and drop-off locations at the airport."

Donerson said that an analysis of the airport's bus stops following that meeting warranted the change.

Previously, travelers using SMART and AirRide could request to be dropped off at the McNamara Terminal on the departures level. However, buses only picked up in the GTC.

The airport said that the change should reduce traffic in terminal and make travelling to the airport easier for public transportation customers.

"The new stop is a short walking distance to the nearest terminal door," Donerson said.

The airport also announced that construction will begin Friday to repair expansion joints in the GTC. All shuttles and charter buses will be temporarily relocated to the domestic arrivals roadway on Level 1. The airport is advising travelers planning to use a shuttle or charter bus to depart from the McNamara Terminal to follow the green signage and floor arrows to Level 1 and exit to the roadway.

Construction is expected to be completed July 22.