If you’ve ever visited another major city and have tried to return a rental car to the airport before your flight, then you probably know just what a nightmare it can be sometimes. It always seems like no matter what you do or how early you get there to take care of returning your rental car, you somehow get caught in a ton of traffic congestion caused by other people trying to return their cars at the same time.

An article published in The New York Times stated that traffic congestion caused by rental car returns has been a huge issue for many major airports, especially airports in cities where the population and/or popularity has grown, such as Atlanta, GA. And over the past decade or so, airports have tried to alleviate some of the traffic congestion by consolidating all of the rental car agencies and/or moving them off site altogether, this way there aren’t as many people crowding the main terminal. However, when moving rental car agencies off site, the biggest issue is how far away they now are from the main terminal. People don’t want to (and shouldn’t have to) drive for forever to pick up and/or drop off their rental car.

CONRAC

The city of Atlanta is currently in the middle of construction for a brand new Consolidated Rental Agency Complex (CONRAC) facility that will be located south of Camp Creek Parkway and west of Interstate 85. The facility is said to:

..hold a minimum of ten rental car companies, which are currently operating at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (H-JAIA) and will provide approximately 8,670 ready, return and storage spaces in the garage structures (approximately 2.8 million square feet), with an additional 1,200 ground storage spaces. The facility will include a customer service center (approximately 137,000 square feet), storage and minor maintenance areas, wash lane facilities and vehicle fueling positions to support the Rental Agencies quick turn around (GTA) operation (approximately 27 acres).

Additionally, the facility will be using an Automated People Mover (APM) System in order to provide easy customer access to the facility from the main airport terminal as well as the Georgia International Convention Center. The system, which will be approximately 1.5 miles long with dual lane elevated guideways, will be approximately 10 minutes round trip.

The total cost for CONRAC is estimated at $468 million, and the brand new facility is expected to be up and running by December of this year.

For more information about car rental in Atlanta, contact Triangle Rent A Car today!

Tags: Auto News //