Chaos at Mumbai Airport cab zones: Flyers demands better system

With multiple flights landing round the clock and thousands of passengers heading to book taxis the arrival gates at both terminals of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport CSMIA often descend into chaos The main reason flyers say is the disorganised state of the appbased taxi pickup zones mdash especially at Terminal 1ldquoThere are no dedicated lanes for different appbased cab operators as in other major airports Even if your taxi driver has entered the parking area they canrsquot reach the front because of other vehicles halting thererdquo said Biswajit Das a frequent flyerPassengers struggle to find cabs outside the terminalWhile Terminal 2 does have a designated zone for ridehailing services passengers complain that even this structured system lacks real efficiency ldquoEvery time I walk to the pickup zone after landing I mentally prepare myself to face the mess Itrsquos supposed to be organised but in reality itrsquos pure chaosrdquo said a flyer from DelhiMany passengers are now opting for prepaid taxis despite their higher fares simply to avoid the exhausting wait and confusionldquoIn Hyderabad we have a pinbased system mdash you stand in a queue give your sixdigit code and get the cab But here at T1 Irsquove had to wait 30 to 40 minutes just for the taxi to reach the pickup zone This time I went with a prepaid cab to save timerdquo a traveller from Hyderabad told middayThe wait time for appbased cabs ranges from five to 40 minutes with long queues honking and frayed tempers being a daily sight ldquoAfter 25 years I came back to Terminal 1 and honestly itrsquos still better than the T2 pickup zone There Irsquove waited over 20 minutes despite the system in place Angry drivers and poor management make things worse Authorities need to fix this before T1 shuts for renovation and all traffic moves to T2rdquo said Prasad Kartikeyan a Mumbai residentA serpentine queue of passengers waiting for appbased taxis at T1Drivers too have been impacted ldquoIrsquove stopped accepting airport pickups Entering the parking lot is a nightmare and the behaviour of other drivers makes it worse The system needs an overhaul mdash just like the kaali peeli taxi system which has run smoothly for decadesrdquo said a Rapido driver A Central Industrial Security Force officer on duty said ldquoWe do our best to manage the traffic We even stop vehicle entry when the parking fills up But unless a better system is implemented these daily conflicts will continuerdquoBanrilang Syiemlieh who handles counter bookings for Rapido at T1 echoed flyersrsquo concerns ldquoT1 has only one pickup point Due to space constraints we get a lot of complaints A betterdesigned system would help manage both the crowd and the driversrdquoRecently the Sahar police arrested three men involved in a fight with a Krystal staffer at the T2 pickup zone Krystal employees told midday that such scuffles are common ldquoDrivers get bookings while stuck at the back of the queue but still have to wait for those ahead We try to manage both the drivers and tired travellers but fights break out frequentlyrdquo said Pradeep Pathak a Krystal employeeWhile the police usually act as backup at the airport DCP Maneesh Kalwaniya of Zone VIII said ldquoThe T2 incident was an isolated case We always have officers stationed at the airport as a secondary line of intervention stepping in when airport staff canrsquot defuse a situation Our job is to ensure no one is harmedrdquoWith Terminal 1 set to shut soon for renovation flyers are anxious about the impact on Terminal 2 Urban designer Vivek Pai said ldquoThe parking zones must be redesigned based on demand Ridehailing services need more space now than private cars If the airport authority redesigns it equitably it will greatly improve the passenger experiencerdquo Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd did not respond to queries sent by midday