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How to design a loading zone
Esther Dyson pointed me to her picture of a well-designed loading zone at the airport in Brussels:
Esther writes:
there is diagonal, parallel short-term stopping between two driving lanes. from the left-hand lane, cars slip into the spots to unload passengers and luggage, and then drive out forward into the right-hand lane.
Everyone, please copy this! it's not patented!
Urban planners and architects, take note! There's no need for the (broken) system at most airports - cars pulling in and out of the same lane in the loading zone, causing mucho traffic.
Lambert St. Louis International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri uses this same approach for departure drop-offs. The only bad thing is that all of the hotel, rental car, and parking shuttles don't use the same approach. They stop at designated islands while staying in the approach lane. It still gets congested as a result, but I agree that this is a good drop-off design. For whatever reason, however, they didn't employ the same strategy for pickups. As a result, you still get the line of cars backing up behind the 5 min pickup zone, and the associated problems that ensue when a passenger arrives for a car in the middle, etc.
another thing about these lanes in St. Louis. Some people back out of the spaces instead when they are done unloading instead of pulling forward (even though there are warning signs!). That is guaranteed to disrupt the flow of traffic.
This is great for the flow of cars, but a little less great for the safety of pedestrians (who are tired and laden with heavy things) since they have to cross a lane of traffic to get to the parked cars. However, I too would prefer it to the standard way of doing curbside pick-up.