Kota Kinabalu: THE parking lot at Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 1 was more than 80 per cent full for the first time following AirAsia's move to the terminal effective Tuesday.But the welcoming and exiting still meant bumper-to-bumper crawl at both the departure and arrival levels as many still parked their vehicles at the side of the road, oblivious to the traffic behind them."I expect to issue 100 summonses in the next 24 hours," said, pointing to a stubborn driver who left his car unattended for more than five minutes.
ADVERTISEMENT
The police, he said, are willing to be flexible at the moment while the public gets used to the idea of parking their cars in the parking lot."If they think RM2 per hour is expensive, how would they like to pay a police summons? But for now, we will give them some space. As long as their cars do not block the traffic, we will give them a few minutes longer.
"However, if they are stubborn, we will be forced to issue them tickets," he said.For taxi driver, 60-year old Aloysius, Tuesday was quite chaotic because of lack of parking space for the 140 taxis, now serving the airport.
ADVERTISEMENT
He also noticed a slower business on the first day, perhaps due to the fact that taxis would no longer have the luxury of serving two terminals."Since I came in at 11am, I only made one trip and it is already 2.30pm. Usually, I would have been able to make three trips. But maybe it is different today. I am sure business will pick up and things will be better in the next few weeks," he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
For KKIA Taxi Association Committee member Lee Kon Phin, the taxi arrangement at the airport could be further improved but admitted any upgrade may not come anytime soon."We are basically fighting for space with the public who come to pick up their families and friends. We are given a special lane to park our taxis but even that is not enough. More than a 100 taxis and you can see us queuing up even before you enter the arrival hall area," he said.Other than double and triple parking by the public and the taxi headache, another problem is the single exit point out of the parking lot which annoyed a lot of drivers.The airport only provides two autopay machines for the public to pay their parking tickets at the arrival level and those who missed the machines would have to pay at the counter near the exit gate.Since the drivers would have to go out of their cars to pay the ticket at the gate, the parked cars at the side of the road are causing even more traffic congestion. They wondered how the airport's planners could have overlooked such an important feature."I think we must be the only international airport in the world where the driver has to get out of the car and walk to the booth to pay before returning to the car and driving away.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
"It's such an inconvenience and will result in delays in leaving the airport," said Hamid, one motorist."I like the new terminal but if this is how it is going to be for the drivers, then it is no different than Terminal 2. We still suffer traffic congestion. Not as bad as in the old terminal but still… it is a problem," said another, Leong.
