Good points. Worth praising the sharp increase in the # of MARC frequencies over the past few years, but M-F only is the real sticking point.

Shuttle - Grr. Just because there IS a shuttle doesn't mean much. Next time, the inquiry should be whether it's timely and effective. You think they'd try to time them to account for train schedules - too often a trainload of MARC folks try to pack into one bus - made worse by the fact that you never know how long until the next one will show up. At least the buses aren't catching fire anymore...

Some parts of DC (read: east of Rock Creek Park) actually have good access to BWI Marshall via the BW Parkway. Of course this is good if there are no accidents or congestion...otherwise you have to use creative bailouts to get to 95. True about the bus and train issues, but at least the airport has some bus and train service.

From this side of the city, a trip to Dulles is sheer agony -- unless it's on the 5A Metrobus from L'Enfant Plaza.

For us, living a 20 minute drive from BWI makes it a lot easier. For us it is Reagan & Dulles that are impossible to get to. Perhaps if we are good, eat our spinach, Metro will extend the Green line to BWI(do not hold your breath!!)

I used to live in Silver Spring and I looooved BWI. Throw in the fact that I was always leaving early in the morning (before rush hour, and against traffic anyway) and it was easier to get to than either of the others.

Your complaints are definitely somewhat DC-centric. And frankly, with both Dulles and National in the more immediate DC metro area, I don't really see a good reason for anyone who lives closer to DC than Baltimore to ever come to BWI. I can't imagine that it would be common for any fare at BWI to be so good to be worth driving to Baltimore for. For the rest of us, who live from about Laurel on northward or for people coming from the far reaches of the state, BWI is usually, by far, the best option. I agree though that the public transit options to BWI leave much to be desired.

I went to National this spring for the first time to save a couple of hundred dollars and I have no idea why people like that airport so much. A pain to get to unless you have easy Metro access, a pain to get around, and very high parking rates. It was definitely not worth the slightly cheaper airfare.

MECM, Southwest's fares can make a huge difference from BWI--especially if you get a sale. I've saved over $200 flying out of there--even more if traveling with family or friends.

And for those of us who live in DC proper, Natinal is a breeze. A $20 taxi or an easy Metro ride and you're there. I made it from downtown Dc to DCA in 13 minutes last Sunday night.

BWI is actually really easy to get to. You don't even have to take 95/296. Go out Route 50 through Bowie and either up Route 3 or over to I-97 and take the back way in. It at least moves better than 95 or the Parkway at rush hour once you're going north.

The roads at BWI are also alot better than the mess out at Dulles. You can even get cheap private parking rather than park the airport's jacked up rates.

Flying out of BWi can actually be that much of a savings MECM. Between Southwest and Airtran you can go most anywhere east of the Mississippi and alot of places west of it for less than 300 round trip.

"I don't really see a good reason for anyone who lives closer to DC than Baltimore to ever come to BWI"
Unless you work for the feds, who see IAD, DCA, and BWI as all DC airports and will fly you out of the cheapest one. When I lived in Lorton, I was once able to justify a cost difference between BWI and DCA by milage and parking fees, but usually with the GSA rates, it doesn't work.

Since 80% of my flights are reimbursed business travel, I have the luxury of picking the most convenient airport/flights and this typically winds up being IAD. Living in Fairfax near George Mason University the drive to DCA WITHOUT traffic is not bad, but I never know if I need to leave my house at 5am or 7am for a flight at 0830.

I fly for pleasure, alone or with my family,5-10 times per year and almost always pick IAD, even if the airfare out of BWI is $50 less. The 75+ minute drive simply is not worth it when I can fly JetBlue most of the time with nice planes, quality in-flight service and a decent FF program.

It's called NY Avenue to the BW Parkway, not exactly difficult, takes about 30 minutes from downtown DC to the terminal unless you're in rush hour traffic. Parking is easy, relatively cheap, with good shuttle service. MARC and Amtrak are options, there are three north-south routes if one is backed up...maybe you should think before posting this drivel.

anon:
I think the point is that the drive is really unpredictable (I drive past BWI all the time and never make it in 30 minutes from Rosslyn). If going to IAD, at least you have the dedicated road once you get outside the beltway, and DCA you can take the metro - which you can count on the vast majority of the time to be fairly reliable on travel times. I would have to leave at least and hour and a half travel time to be sure I won't miss my flight from BWI; it might only take 45 minutes if I'm lucky, but it could easily take the full 1.5 hours (or more, really).

Public transportation to BWI from DC is laughable. The MARC is OK if it works with your departure, but it ain't easy if you're toting luggage to take Metro to Union Station, hop on a train and then catch a shuttle to the terminal. I usually resort to driving, since Supershuttle became untrustworthy once they began franchising. I miss the old Washington Flyer express bus to IAD that used to leave from downtown K Street near the Hilton - it was efficient AND a bargain.

You've also neglected to consider that a majority of the airport's users travel from the Baltimore area and the light rail goes directly to the terminal, no bus required.

Andrea--

We've discussed this issue in the past. Washington travelers are fortunate to have three outstanding Washington airports to choose from. With different airlines and many nonstop destinations from three airports, passengers in this region have a lot of options.

The Aviation.com survey simply affirms BWI's reputation as an airport that is easy to access and easy to use. As our slogan points out, BWI is the "easy come, easy go" airport for the region.

You comment on the drive from DC to BWI.

Please know that access to the Airport by highway / roadway is excellent. As the poster "anon" points out, there are a number of good north-south roadway alternatives-- 95, the B/W Parkway, Route 1, 97, etc. And as "anon" also indicates, driving from downtown Washington using New York Avenue to the B/W Parkway is quick and easy.

And as you mention in your post, the Aviation.com list highlighted BWI because of its outstanding transit options.

With rail access from Washington on MARC or Amtrak, and Light Rail access to Baltimore, BWI has some of the best transit access of any American airport. BWI was the first U.S. airport with an on-airport rail station.

And despite your characterization, the BWI Express / B-30 Metrobus route is a quick, easy, and inexpensive transit alternative for BWI travelers. The BWI Express Metrobus runs 25 times a day during the week, and 21 times a day on the weekend-- about every 40 minutes. It's a great way to take Metro to BWI, and a great way to travel.

The posting by "MECM" mentioned airport location. I would just point out to readers that BWI is virtually the exact same distance from downtown Washington as Dulles.

With the recent completion of a multi-year expansion and improvement program, BWI is, in many ways, a new world-class airport. BWI has more parking than ever before for customers, with reasonable rates, particularly when customers use the coupons that are frequently available on the Airport's website, www.BWIairport.com. BWI has award-winning food and retail concessions, terminal-wide Wi-Fi access, the BWI Smart Park system, a cell phone lot, and a number of other services for customers.

As we say, thanks for flying BWI!

--Jonathan Dean

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport

Has anyone been to LOGAN?

I hate it, I am there at least once a week, and the endless tunnels kill me...

Of course I think it's great - I live 10 minutes away! BWI isn't a DC airport, it's a Baltimore / suburban MD airport. There are a rather lot of us :-)

Then again - the distance between Fairfax and my home in the north-east corner of Columbia is 39 miles driving (had to measure it yesterday). Wanted to kill myself at the end of the drive - if I ever took a job in Fairfax I would move. That seems insanely close to anyone who isn't in the Was-NYC-Bos corridor!

I used to live in Boston and for everything that is wrong about that city, they get the airport and access to it right. Between the T, the Silver line, and ferries, there is no reason to spend $25 for a 3 mile ride to the airport. The key is the Silver Line. Take it from the airport to South Station and then switch to the red line or grab a cab street-side. Even the silver line buses are outfitted with luggage racks. All that for $1.25.

Thanks Jonathan. IAD is certainly more convenient to a lot of NOVA and ROVA folks, but with only one way in and out and complete congestion daily, Dulles is becoming less and less of an alternative DC airport. One suggestion for BWI - mroe convenient shuttles from the MARC station to the terminal. Every 10-15 minutes doesn't cut it to make this form of public transit a real alternative.

I, too, hate the BWI rail-shuttle bus. I've had some ridiculous, inexplicable waits at both ends of this route. If only the "BWI" station was, like, *at* BWI...

The B30 bus is convenient, but not fast when you factor in the time to get to Greenbelt Metro in the first place. It took me about an hour and 45 minutes to get from home (Arlington) to BWI on Saturday.

As for IAD--ugh. Parking in the economy lots adds another 45 minutes to the drive there. The 5A bus is great, but I've seen the westbound bus arrive 30 minutes late in Rosslyn--this route desperately needs to be on NextBus, so people can have some idea if/when it'll show up.

The Washington Flyer shuttle to WFC Metro might feel like less of a rip-off if it at least let you pay with a SmarTrip card.

Neither airport comes close to National. When I lived in Crystal City, I once walked home from the terminal!

I lived in NE DC and BWI was so much more predictable a drive than IAD and so much more pleasent once you arrive. I would just go up New Hampshire AVE and get on the beltway and zip onto 95. Early in the morning there was never congestion in that direction. Now I live near the Chesapeake and BWI and DCA are about the same time to drive to but BWI is so much easier to park at that I choose it. Add Southwest to the mix and I am at BWI the most.

Even being in MD, I'm a not a BWI fan. At non-rush, the beltway to the Dulles access road is pretty quick, and the thing I like the most about Dulles is that for not much more than the economy lot I can park in a daily garage and walk to the terminal (you can do the same at DCA as well).

BWI's new daily garage is nice, but you still have to take a bus to get to the terminal, which adds time and aggrivation to the whole process. The terminals at BWI never struck me as nice either, but in fairness I haven't been there since the renovation project was completed.

Maybe it's intentional that it's abbreviated as BWI and not WBI. For us Marylanders, there are plenty of decent roads (I-97, BW Parkway, I-195) with easy airport access, as well as MARC, Amtrak and the Baltimore Light Rail. All of these are MUCH better than the pathetic access to and from Dulles!

I rather like BWI and think it is VERY easy in/out as opposed to National and/or Dulles. I really started going to BWI when my son was in school in CO as Frontier at that time was not at Dulles or National. They used to give you 1/2 hour of free parking in the garage right by the terminal, for easy pick-ups (don't know if they still do this). I wish the other airports would do this!! I have flown many times from BWI and with their long term parking, shuttle buses, etc., it has been very easy. If I lived closer, I would never use Dulles or National.