Comments on: Cycling to LaGuardia

By: Alan Robinson

Alan Robinson — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 03:46:25 +0000

I’ve done both Midway Airport (MDW) in Chicago and (YVR) Vancouver. For Midway airport, despite it’s urban environment, the problem of reaching the airport by bicycle is due to the roads that approach it. The main north-south road, Cicero, is a 6-lane highway with no shoulder. One could approach the airport from the east along 59th and the transit loop, but it’s hardly good access. Personally, I rode Cicero Ave. all the way from the Metra BNSF line in the north, and didn’t much enjoy it. One can park bike onto the railings in from of the terminal.

I’ve ridden to Vancouver Intl. Airport twice. The airport is on it’s own island with several highway style road bridges going to it. However, most of these bridges have marked (if somewhat narrow) bike lanes, and access across the island is good. At least 3 years ago, the last 150m to the terminal was not well layed out. One could either walk or mix with traffic approaching the terminal. Bike racks are provided once you arrive, although watch out for thieves. I had my cyclometer stolen. I’m not sure why.

What Chicago’s and Vancouver’s airports lack in bicycle accessibility, they more than make up for in transit accessibility. All three have rapid transit lines direct to their downtowns.

By: Parke

Parke — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 06:48:26 +0000

@Greg

I also biked to the Anchorage airport (ANC) in late February. Locked my bike right outside the doors to the terminal in the parking garage. Some of the space in the pack I carried onto the plane was taken up by the extra winter gear I had to wear on the bike (I was flying to Phoenix). The greatest thing, though, is that you can take Airport Drive in from North of the airport after getting off of the coastal trail without any obstruction, even in the middle of the night when my flight left. It’s a peaceful ride past the lines of bush planes and float planes until you arrive at the terminal, hop off your bike, and walk on your plane.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:45:47 +0000

Re: Heathrow. It depends on the terminal. You can get out of 1, 2, and 3 on bike (or foot) quite well. Google Maps does it perfectly well. Terminal 4 demands that you go in via a tunnel, so you might as well take the Tube, bus, or the most expensive train in Western Europe. 5 is not bad, but I have done it on foot and by bike. I think almost everybody who goes to Heathrow by bike or local transport is an employee, but it is still a nice option and feels like a great victory to get between London and LHR. Also, not strictly bike, but: if you are at an airport hotel, they are all within a 30 minute walk or a red bus ride, so don’t take the airport shuttles (which cost a fortune)! Also, re: Chicago ORD: it’s not actually bad on city streets until the end, so you might lock it at a Blue Line Station such as Rosemont.

By: ATL

ATL — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:22:37 +0000

I don’t think it’s legally possible to ride to ATL. I’ve ridden on a lot of streets around the airport, but any that would go to the terminal would technically be highways. There may be a way to cut through a parking lot, but I have no idea if there are fences or other barriers.

However, the subway goes directly into the terminal, so if you can ride to any MARTA stop, then you can take the train to the airport. Or now there is a free monorail to the car rental facility that is possible to bike to and from.

By: AC

AC — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:44:29 +0000

I’ve cycled numerous times to the Toronto City Airport. It’s on the waterfront straight down Bathurst St. It’s got several standard posts to lock your bike to.

By: Tem

Tem — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 08:30:52 +0000

Since we’ve already got Europe’s biggest (LHR) on the list, let me add FRA to it: with the exception of the final few metres of access to the actual terminals (where you’d have to choose to either pretend to be a car or a pedestrian since there isn’t a bike option any more), this is very bikeable, and for denizens of the southern and western outskirts of Frankfurt this actually makes for a pretty scenic ride through the city’s forest.

In fact, about half of Frankfurt’s plane-spotters arrive by bike

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:19:04 +0000

BWI is about 1 hour from downtown Baltimore City by bicycle. There is a trail system that takes you there directly. It’s also accessible from Annapolis.

You are also free to carry your bike on the light rail train which also goes directly from Downtown to BWI. they have a lenient policy towards bikes on the light rail. The bike trail also extends to Annapolis and meets up with the Light Rail line.

Although it seems that most people I meet have little to no knowledge of any of this, and are baffled by the idea of riding a bike to the Airport. For one thing, they don’t know how to carry luggage on a bike. It’s not a common skill. Maybe it should be.

My father once paid for a limo service because he didn’t want me to take the train to the airport. He seemed to think that would be just terrible! I was thinking more along the lines of not getting in traffic and then missing my flight.

By: João Lacerda

João Lacerda — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:57:07 +0000

I’ve cycled to and from Rio’s local airport (Santos Dumont - SDU), Sao Paulo’s local airport (Congonhas-CGH) and Brasilia’s airport.

Rio’s local airport is one of the prettiest in the world, right on the bay with a segregated bike lane all the way to runway, or to the check in area, you choose.

Search for SDU on google maps and you will see!

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:38:26 +0000

AFAIK most main access roads to Brisbane airport in Australia have cycling bans in place now. To get there requires following a designated series of roads and cycle tracks.

By: Alex Dupuy

Alex Dupuy — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 22:31:15 +0000

Bike parking at airports is apparently under attack by Sen. John McCain, who introduced an amendment to prevent airports from using money from passenger facility fees (hidden charge included in price of your flight ticket as “taxes”):

http://www.bikeleague.org/blog/2011/02/will-a-ban-on-using-fees-to-pay-for-airport-bike-parking-fly/

Probably not the reason that there is no bike parking at LGA, but if it passes, it will certainly make it less likely.