Developed by Conrac Solutions, Bradley International Airport’s (BDL) new consolidated rental car facility (ConRAC) and ground transportation center (GTC) introduces a state-of-the-art landside aviation facility at the Airport’s front door.
Located on a 20-acre site, the 1.5 million-square-foot facility is comprised of three distinct and connected buildings: Quick Turnaround (QTA) garage; Ready/Return garage; and Vertical Circulation Core.
The five-story QTA garage consists of facilities to clean and maintain rental car fleets, and houses carwashes, maintenance bays, fueling and vacuum positions, administration offices, and support/storage spaces. The five-story Ready/Return garage allows customers to rent and return vehicles adjacent to the airport terminal. The first level houses public parking, extending BDL’s existing public parking garage to meet the needs of the travelling public. The top floor of both garages provide space for rental car storage.
The four-story core provides a direct connection to Terminal A via an elevated pedestrian bridge and allows travelers to convey vertically to one of the nine Rental Car brands or public parking/ground transportation. This core is also designed for a connection to a future Terminal B, making this new facility the central focus of the Airport’s landside operation.
Previously, the existing rental car lots were dispersed around the Airport, requiring rental car companies to operate shuttle buses to/from the Terminal. By consolidating operations and combining with public parking and ground transportation, the multi-modal facility has vastly improved the customer experience and helped mitigate curbside congestion in front of the Terminal, eliminating an estimated 250,000+ shuttle trips per year.
The new ConRAC’s program development was a response to evolving design trends and sized to meet future growth needs of the industry. The creation of a multi-level core helped to minimize the overall facility footprint, leading to a compact and efficient project, serving as a prototype for future airport facilities.