45 AirportImprovement.com September 2026 PARKING ATL as possible,” says Ana Maria Taroco, ATL’s assistant general manager for infrastructure. “Being within walking distance provides greater convenience and helps reduce the stress associated with the travel experience.” The situation also represented lost revenue opportunities for the airport, so its Planning Department conducted several parking demand studies. With forecasted passenger growth and aging parking infrastructure, it was clear that additional parking capacity was needed, Taroco explains. Currently, ATL has roughly 31,000 on- airport parking spaces, but forecasts estimate it will need 40,000 to 50,000 spaces over the next 10 to 15 years, reports Hughie Galbreath, senior director for parking/ground transportation. That’s why more parking improvements are already in the works. Maximizing Real Estate While planning for the South Red Deck started in 2018, design didn’t begin until 2022. “It’s a lengthy process because every HUGHIE GALBREATH ANA MARIA TAROCO option must be carefully evaluated,” Taroco remarks. The land the new seven-story structure occupies was previously a surface parking lot. Its proximity to the terminal was ideal for passenger convenience, and building vertically allowed ATL to create the additional capacity it needed. “Adding the parking deck on that location was a much more efficient use of space,” she explains. “There’s a significant demand for walkable spaces versus park-and-ride type spaces,” Galbreath adds. “We wanted to make sure we could leverage our real estate to create the spaces that are desired most often by our customers. Where we may be real estate constrained, we’re finding creative ways to maximize the real estate for maximum capacity.” Crews broke ground on the project in September 2023. “Building the Red Deck first allows us to offset some of the capacity loss when we [later] demolish the existing South Deck,” Taroco says. The new structure covers nearly 2.5 million square feet, with about 6,400 parking spaces. It also includes roughly 11,000 square feet of office space on levels 1 and 2 to support on-site management, customer service and daily parking operations. The associated South Economy Lot, also new, is about 444,700 square feet, with nearly 1,200 spaces. Together, the two facilities increase ATL’s available parking by almost 3 million square feet and provide more than 7,600 spaces at a variety of price points and parking durations. Each level of the South Red Deck is 8 acres in size—the equivalent of about six football fields. With seven levels, that is more than 40 football fields of space. “It’s a massive structure,” Taroco emphasizes. She notes that limiting the height of the deck to seven levels kept it cost- effective. Had the structure been taller, high-rise codes would have applied and construction would have been more expensive. “We were balancing two priorities: maximizing parking capacity while making sure we deliver the best possible value,” she explains. The new facility was originally scheduled to be substantially complete by the end
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