You will get all carpet and you will like it!pdm_ad wrote: ↑Oct 13, 2025While we are going over our wish list items for the new terminal, can we get a smooth terrazzo tile floor? The grout-lined ceramic tiles are noisy and look like crap.
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Wish list? I want timber. Not necessarily as much as Portland's new terminal, but it'd be a good statement recognizing how much pollution comes from jetliners, something to further differentiate STL from other airports as far as quiet messaging goes, could be good marketing for attracting more flights. Plus, hardwood floors would look great.
Who really cares about car rentals anymore? I'm a millennial business traveller of about 6 years. Never rented a car in my life. Only relied on Ubers / public transit. Same with colleagues. Has St. Louis waited long enough to make this a non-issue? I think so....
On the other hand, I was in Austin the other week. It was a literal treasure hunt to find the path to the Uber pickup. For everything amazing about that city, I could do without the 5 minutes of anxiety trying to rush to find my driver.
Apparently I'm not alone: https://www.tiktok.com/@wezzzzzo/video/ ... 7874058527
On the other hand, I was in Austin the other week. It was a literal treasure hunt to find the path to the Uber pickup. For everything amazing about that city, I could do without the 5 minutes of anxiety trying to rush to find my driver.
Apparently I'm not alone: https://www.tiktok.com/@wezzzzzo/video/ ... 7874058527
RuskiSTL wrote: ↑Oct 14, 2025Who really cares about car rentals anymore? I'm a millennial business traveller of about 6 years. Never rented a car in my life. Only relied on Ubers / public transit. Same with colleagues. Has St. Louis waited long enough to make this a non-issue? I think so....
On the other hand, I was in Austin the other week. It was a literal treasure hunt to find the path to the Uber pickup. For everything amazing about that city, I could do without the 5 minutes of anxiety trying to rush to find my driver.
Apparently I'm not alone: https://www.tiktok.com/@wezzzzzo/video/ ... 7874058527
- Business travelers.
- People who fly to a city then drive to nearby towns that might be 1, 2 or even 3 hours away.
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I think Ruski and dewwbe both have points. There probably is some generational change there; younger people seem less resistant to public transit and ride shares. But it's also quite situational. On my last trip I did shuttles and ride shares, but on the trip before that I had to get out into the countryside with an extra suitcase of stuff. Rented a car for that. (In the UK, where public transit is very much a thing. A better thing. A nice thing. Except out in the countryside.) Maybe I could have done a rideshare or a cab? I surely could have taken a train from London to Newark, but getting to the hotel in Newark might have been something of a challenge, and getting from Newark to East Stoke . . . well . . . bum a ride or walk. Or just call your friends at the Big E. If you're able to travel light that makes a rental less necessary. Or if you're sticking to accessible hotels and meeting rooms. But there's definitely still a demand for rental cars, and I don't think that's a terrible thing. I'm altogether in favor of using public transit when I can. (I absolutely rode all over London on the train. And I've done the same in New York, Phillie, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, DC, Stuttgart, Cologne, and even a little bit in Narita.) But there are times and places where it doesn't quite work out, and renting a car isn't necessarily that much worse than taking a cab, really. Uber is still a car, and even if there are technically two people in the car, only one person is really using it for transportation, so the immediate fuel, pollution, and traffic math actually works out slightly worse than a rental, if I'm looking at this right. Taxis and their ilk are convenient, but they create a lot of wasted miles, and I'm not sure they save enough in parking to really make up for that. (I'm guessing not, but I haven't done the math. Not sure I could, honestly. There's a lot of variables, but at the end of the day . . . a cab is a car. And the driver isn't being transported anywhere, so they generate no passenger miles or ton miles. They're just a part of the machine.)
Anyway, short version: even if you don't have a use for the consolidated rental car facility other people surely will. And it's not an inherently evil thing. May not need to be a top priority, but if the opportunity arises I say go for it.
Anyway, short version: even if you don't have a use for the consolidated rental car facility other people surely will. And it's not an inherently evil thing. May not need to be a top priority, but if the opportunity arises I say go for it.
Singapore Changi Airport is fully carpeted throughout the concourses of its four terminals and also has many carpeted areas in the check-in rows.
https://www.changiairport.com/en/corpor ... rneys.html
Quoting from the link: "Carpeted flooring reduces noise and softens acoustics from heavy footsteps and luggage being rolled across the airport floor."
Changi Airport is, by far, the quietest major airport I've ever been in.
Changi Airport also has developed a proprietary scent that is present in all four terminals. It's kind of an aromatherapy program designed to help calm travelers. Details are in the link above.
I suggested in one of those info gathering surveys conducted by the airport that Lambert collaborate with the Botanical Gardens to develop a proprietary scent for the revamped terminals. They could even bottle and sell it like Changi Airport does.
Also, I suggested that they prioritise the toilets. The toilets in Changi's Terminal 4 are commensurate with public toilets in a 5-star hotel. The toilets in all four terminals are as clean as those at Haneda, Narita or any Japanese airport. They also have Japanese bidet toilets in many of the bathrooms. Leaves a positive impression on visitors. You know, like the airport actually cares about their comfort.
All of my point is to say that we will have a continual need for rental cars (incl. Turo, or rideshare) so might as well make it convenient, and less of a dump than it is currently. Not that hard to make a garage a little bigger, or build on Lot A.
Put ground floor as rideshare pickup, one or two floors of rental cars with some shacks/gates, the rest of the floors as short term parking. Not that hard. And you make everyone happy and also come across as a modern airport with basic ass amenities and infrastructure. This is pretty standard setup I've seen in business and leisure travel.
Put ground floor as rideshare pickup, one or two floors of rental cars with some shacks/gates, the rest of the floors as short term parking. Not that hard. And you make everyone happy and also come across as a modern airport with basic ass amenities and infrastructure. This is pretty standard setup I've seen in business and leisure travel.
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Business travelers might not need to rent a car but families sure do. We don’t uber with kids.
As a former 50-100 night a year business traveler I can there are situations where you need a car.moorlander wrote: ↑Oct 14, 2025Business travelers might not need to rent a car but families sure do. We don’t uber with kids.
I will still be the first to Uber/Lyft, taxi, public transport or walk 3/4 mile through a pedestrian hating office park that has no sidewalks in the single digit windchill before I rent a car: but there are times when you need them. And don't get me started on small to mid sized towns that have little or no rideshare coverage, public transport and absolutely no taxis.
But I guess now rental cars are lame and for the olds.
pdm_ad wrote: ↑Oct 13, 2025While we are going over our wish list items for the new terminal, can we get a smooth terrazzo tile floor? The grout-lined ceramic tiles are noisy and look like crap.
- Smooth floor
- Carpet
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- Tiles with gaps.
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Why not both? It's not like a dedicated Uber/Lyft stop needs a lot of space.dweebe wrote: ↑Oct 14, 2025RuskiSTL wrote: ↑Oct 14, 2025Who really cares about car rentals anymore? I'm a millennial business traveller of about 6 years. Never rented a car in my life. Only relied on Ubers / public transit. Same with colleagues. Has St. Louis waited long enough to make this a non-issue? I think so....
On the other hand, I was in Austin the other week. It was a literal treasure hunt to find the path to the Uber pickup. For everything amazing about that city, I could do without the 5 minutes of anxiety trying to rush to find my driver.
Apparently I'm not alone: https://www.tiktok.com/@wezzzzzo/video/ ... 7874058527But what do I know? I'm just an old Gen X and should shut the hell up.
- Business travelers.
- People who fly to a city then drive to nearby towns that might be 1, 2 or even 3 hours away.
Wouldn't it be cohesive if we had a car rental facility, metrolink stop, bus stop, and uber/lyft pick-up drop off? The T2 area/garage would be a great option.
If T2 is not an option, then maybe the North Hanley stop is where this should be located. Use metrolink as your shuttle to the car rental facility (keep metrolink free between Airport and North Hanley) and have Uber/Lyft at the airport and at North Hanley.
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^ A floor like that is EXACTLY what I'm talking about!!! Smooth, pretty, no clickety-clacks.
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I'll be curious to see if they will follow KC's lead and include all-gender restrooms. No one made a stink about them when they were being built, but now that the political winds have shifted and the trans community has been turned into a giant monster to scare voters with, will they avoid it for fear Sean Duffy will direct the FAA to cancel all funds and cooperation with the airport on the expansion?
For what it's worth, the all-gender restrooms at MCI are not a big deal AT ALL. The stall doors are floor to ceiling. No one is harassing anyone else; they just use the toilets, wash their hands (hopefully), and move on with their travels.
For what it's worth, the all-gender restrooms at MCI are not a big deal AT ALL. The stall doors are floor to ceiling. No one is harassing anyone else; they just use the toilets, wash their hands (hopefully), and move on with their travels.
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Ahhhh....but what kind of "family" can use them?Auggie wrote: ↑Oct 14, 2025Call them family restrooms and be done with it.
Anyone.Bart Harley Jarvis wrote: ↑Oct 14, 2025Ahhhh....but what kind of "family" can use them?Auggie wrote: ↑Oct 14, 2025Call them family restrooms and be done with it.
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Not much annoys me more than the tile floors at Lambert and the mind numbing noise of a rolling suitcase. Probably good for overall health that it's forced me to fireman carry my luggage through the terminal so that I don't have to hear it. Especially when you're rolling in around 6:00am to Terminal 1 and the place is dead silent.
Everyone is welcome to their opinions on rental car facilities - to me, Minneapolis is a dream b/c it's on site. Phoenix feels like it's like taking a bus from Lambert to St. Charles (slight exaggeration).
Everyone is welcome to their opinions on rental car facilities - to me, Minneapolis is a dream b/c it's on site. Phoenix feels like it's like taking a bus from Lambert to St. Charles (slight exaggeration).
For your midsized airports, the ones on terminal are sweet. But then for the big monsters like LAX and ORD it's almost preferable for the offsite facilities and then use a people mover to get into the complex.jbacott wrote: ↑Oct 15, 2025Everyone is welcome to their opinions on rental car facilities - to me, Minneapolis is a dream b/c it's on site. Phoenix feels like it's like taking a bus from Lambert to St. Charles (slight exaggeration).
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I know this topic has been beat to death, but does anyone know any specifics ( in the early stage) regarding the amenities the new terminal will offer? Will there be a consolidated food court? I have heard the new garage will house some rental car companies. I would love to see those consolidated into the garage & away from the surface lots.
I am hoping STL is doing what STL CITY SC did. They traveled all over the place taking ideas from soccer venues all over the place to incorporate into the design of City Park. I hope STL officials are doing the same thing, stealing great ideas from successful, modern & sleek airports all over the world. That would be the way to top some of the new terminals built in recent years. I want people to come to Lambert & be wowed, feel like they are entering unique STL treasure. I know that's a lot to ask, but for that price tag, I want it all.
I am hoping STL is doing what STL CITY SC did. They traveled all over the place taking ideas from soccer venues all over the place to incorporate into the design of City Park. I hope STL officials are doing the same thing, stealing great ideas from successful, modern & sleek airports all over the world. That would be the way to top some of the new terminals built in recent years. I want people to come to Lambert & be wowed, feel like they are entering unique STL treasure. I know that's a lot to ask, but for that price tag, I want it all.