Kolkata: The airport authorities are working on a major traffic circulation revamp to ease congestion on the arrival-level driveway. A key proposal is to shift the app-cab boarding area to the lower basement and use an underutilised basement carriageway that lies just below the arrival-level driveway.As part of the plan, app cabs may be separated from other vehicles and barred from using the arrival driveway. Currently, all app-cab pickup points are located in a channel on the extreme right of the driveway. Although an island prevents the cabs from blocking the main driveway, cross-traffic near the exit from the basement parking lot and crowding at the cabway entry often lead to snarls.“Last week, I went to pick up my wife. I parked the car in the basement parking lot. When my wife called to say she had reached and was exiting the terminal, I started from the parking area but got stuck in a long queue at the exit for over 20 minutes,” said Salt Lake resident Rishab Dey. Late-night flyers also struggle to locate their assigned app cabs amid the congestion.To address both problems, the airport authorities are considering shifting app-cab boarding points to the lower basement, which is currently underused. This would remove app cabs from the arrival driveway altogether. The cabs would then exit through a road below the arrival driveway that is not in use at present. “This will also decongest the exit point from the upper basement parking lot used by private cars that pick up arriving passengers. Without the app cabs, cars can exit in one minute, or a maximum of two minutes during rush hours,” said an official.To help passengers with luggage reach the lower basement, the airport has proposed installing four high-capacity lifts, each able to carry 25 to 30 people. The lifts would operate between the departure level and the lower basement, with a stop at the arrival level.At the Delhi airport, app-cab boarding zones have been shifted entirely to a multi-level car park. Passengers arriving at Terminal 3 have to walk through clearly marked corridors or use travelators and lifts to reach the pickup point. The Mumbai airport follows a similar model, with app-based taxi pickups operating from dedicated holding and pickup areas instead of the main terminal driveway. Aviation experts say such segregation of traffic has become standard practice at several busy airports as passenger volumes continue to rise.Kolkata airport officials said the proposal is still at the planning stage. It is expected to be finalised in the next couple of months and sent to the Airports Authority of India headquarters in Delhi for approval. The project will also need clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation before work can begin on installing the lifts.Feedback from passengers about the potential change has been positive. “If app cabs move to a separate pickup zone, it will be much easier for those of us coming to receive family members,” said New Alipore resident Palash Banerjee, who frequently drives to the airport to pick up his son, who studies in Hyderabad.“After a flight, especially late at night, the biggest problem is finding the cab in the crowd. If all app cabs are shifted to a dedicated pickup area, the process will become much smoother,” said Dwaipayan Roy, who flies between Kolkata and Delhi at least once a month.
