WINDSOR LOCKS — The $210 million ground transportation center opening July 13 at Bradley International Airport will be convenient for fliers headed to buses or rental cars.
And crucial for economic development both in Connecticut and Massachusetts as Bradley works to better connect planes with trains and buses and connect the airport better with Springfield and Hartford.
“Airports are the coin of the realm in competitions for new business among states,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Thursday at a grand opening for the 1.4 million-square-foot facility that covers 13 acres of airport property.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, also a Democrat of Connecticut, asked: “What is your first impression of a state? It is that rental car experience. Your first impression is getting to that rental car.”
Richard K. Sullivan Jr., president and CEO of Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, said Bradley is Western Massachusetts’ regional airport and a tremendous asset for business development.
“I think it’s going to be great for Bradley,” he said of the transportation center.
U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Hartford, reminded the crowd that Bradley serves two states and has partners in U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-New Haven, chair of the Appropriations Committee.
“This is a regional juggernaut,” Larson said. “We are in good shape.”
The transportation center was in the planning stage for a decade and under construction for five years even during the pandemic. At a cost of $210 million, it’s funded through surcharges on rental car fees, said Kevin A. Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority.
The project includes 830 new parking spots, many of them covered.
After the garage and rental car counters open July 13, passengers will no longer need to take shuttle buses to rental cars, saving 264,000 shuttle trips a year. Instead, they’ll be able to walk to new, gleaming counters staffed by Avis, Budget, Payless, Alamo, National, Enterprise, Hertz Dollar and Thrifty.
The rental car companies also installed electric vehicle charging stations in the parking garage anticipating the switch to an EV fleet. New Teslas and electric Kias already have been delivered.
With new washing and maintenance facilities, car rental companies will be able to turn around a car in 15 to 20 minutes, the airport authority said.
“Speed matters,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said. “It makes a big difference.”
He was asked about the general economy. The federal government said earlier this week that the economy shrank at an annualized rate of 1.6% in the first quarter of this year. Connecticut’s gross domestic product slipped by an annualized rate of 1.4%. Massachusetts is one of four states that saw modest growth, in its case 0.2%.
“That is why we’re at Bradley airport, fighting for every job,” Lamont said. “That’s why we continue to work.”
Joe Giulietti, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, said the first floor of the ground transportation center will offer bus service. ConnDOT is months away from adding shuttle buses from Bradley to the CTrail station in Windsor Locks and Hartford’s Union Station.
“But long-term what we really want is that light rail connection,” he said.
There are rights of way that could be repurposed to bring light rail or a dedicated busway to Bradley, speeding the connections with Springfield and Hartford, said Giulietti.
Convention groups eyeing Springfield often express frustration about ground transportation options, said Michele Goldberg, vice president of marketing at the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Not everyone wants or needs to rent a car, especially if they are just coming for a c. But better bus connections will help.
“This is definitely a step forward,” she said.
Business travel has been slower to come back after the pandemic, Dillon said.
Bradley International Airport saw more than 2 million passenger boardings in 2021, an 80% jump over 2020, when COVID-19 shut down most air travel for months. In more recent months passenger numbers have been running about 10% below pre-COVID 2019 numbers.
“With our next fiscal year, which starts (Friday), we expect to climb back to pre-COVID numbers,” he said.
Bradley offers more nonstop destinations now than it did in 2019. In June, Delta announced plans to offer nonstop service from Bradley to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, a short hop intended to make it easier for travelers to make connections. Breeze and Air Canada have recently added flights.
Much of the recovery in passenger traffic has been leisure travelers. Business travel, like for those conventions Goldberg helps book, have come back more slowly, Dillon said.
“People are still coming back to offices,” he said. “A lot of people have gotten used to meeting over Zoom.”
Relocating and consolidating rental car operations also frees up land on Schoephoester Road. Dillon said he’s excited to market the land for air cargo operations, additional parking, hotels or a truck center that would support the neighboring Amazon facility.
Bradley has not recovered its transatlantic flight, nonstop service to Ireland by Aer Lingus, that was canceled during the pandemic. But Dillon said Aer Lingus is interested in coming back and he predicts it will happen in spring 2023.
Ad Choices