Logan Express: A Parking Disaster During School Vacation

As a community we are very lucky in Framingham to have a Logan Express. This has made my life easier since I moved here in the 1990s. I use it for work, for vacations, and I even have family members use the service when they are flying out of Logan.

I rely on it pretty much weekly this time of year.

This week, there were signs on the Mass Pike that instructed people not to park at Logan Airport. This was because the lots were full. I left for a 3 day business trip and as expected the Logan Express Lot was full (overflow as well). This was not a huge deal for me.

I had a few travel issues this week (ended up only getting 2 hours of sleep in 2 days thanks to Continental Airlines). I landed at Logan without issues (US Air this time) and I was ready to get home and sleep. I got to Logan Express within a half hour. I went to my car. I was blocked in by two other cars.

It turns out that MassPort paid for a valet service (nice use of tax dollars) and had people double and triple parked. I had to wait 1/2 hour to get my car out of the lot (could have been home for a good 20 minutes at that point). I was not comfortable having my car blocked in like that without my permission (it's a used Jeep, but it is still a well-loved car). Also, the Jeep was blocked in so horribly that the valet had to help me navigate in the dark lot (two of them had to guide me out of my LEGAL parking spot). And yes, I still had to pay (as did the others).

My question to you all--is this a good business practice? Using tax dollars to illegally park cars? Pack in as many as will physically fit in there (I know MassPort needs the cash, but this was absurd). I have the phone number for the supervisor and I'm tempted to call her. Was I right to be angry? I was so sleep deprived I was actually shaking by that point. I just wanted to hop in my car and drive home. Instead I had to deal with the valet and also other drivers struggling to get out of the lot (very difficult to navigate all the illegally parked cars--both rows were double lined with cars behind each row of parking spaces).

Again, we are lucky to have Logan Express. I was leaving at 3:30pm so I did not have a way to get dropped off there. I use Logan Express to save my employer money (and me time).

I'd love to hear from people that experienced this and what my next step should be. Is calling the supervisor really the answer since the 'park at Logan Express' sign on the Pike was beyond their control.