(WSVN) - They say “your home is your castle,” but some South Florida residents say their neighborhood has become an airport parking lot. 7’s Brian Entin is getting results for these residents with his special investigation, “No Parking.”
These neighbors have lived here for years — a small residential street right next to busy Miami International Airport.
Brian Entin: “So the noise doesn’t bother you?”
Barbara Grant, neighbor: “[Not] at all. That’s not the problem.”
It’s not the planes that have these residents upset. It’s Uber cars and taxi cabs that park on Northwest South Tamiami Canal Drive.
They’re here at all hours of the day — sometimes making it difficult for neighbors to come and go from their condos.
Barbara Grant: “They always have an excuse. It’s ‘five seconds.’ It’s ‘two minutes.’ ‘We are leaving soon.’ The idea is that you are not supposed to be here.”
Ray Vidal, neighbor: “Try to tell them not to park there, but they just blow you off.”
He’s right. The drivers did blow us off.
Brian Entin: “I’m Brian from 7News. Why do you park here and not in the taxi lot? Why do you come to this residential street?”
Most sped off when I tried talking to them.
This cab driver said she was taking a nap in her taxi.
Brian Entin: “So you just came to rest?”
Taxi driver: “Yes.”
Brian Entin: “But now you are going to leave?”
Taxi driver: “Yes.”
We saw another taxi driver stretching in the street.
And we spotted Uber after Uber ignoring “no parking” signs.
Brian Entin: “Are you an Uber driver?”
Uber driver: “Yes.”
Brian Entin: “Why do you park on this residential street instead of the lot?”
Uber driver: “No. No. No.”
None of the drivers wanted to talk about why they weren’t parked where they should be: in the designated Uber and taxi airport lots.
Brian Entin: “This is the Uber lot at MIA. It is totally full. And it is a madhouse. There are 134 parking spots here, and the airport says there is no room to expand.”
Ray Vidal: “To me, I think they just need to go somewhere else. I mean, don’t park here. You don’t live here. This is a residential area. It says it plain and simple; there are signs all over the place. ‘No parking.'”
An Uber spokesman says he understands the frustration.
Javi Correoso, Uber: “We have been working very closely with the airport to help fix that problem.”
He says they’re trying to get a bigger airport lot, and within hours of our interview, he says, Uber reprogrammed their app to discourage their drivers from parking on the residential street.
Javi Correoso: “One of the things that we’re going to do to help fix this specific problem on this street is make changes to the technology so that driver partners that are doing airport trips receive those trips strictly from within airport property.”
That’s what neighbors have been waiting for.
Ray Vidal: “How would they like it if I go and park in front of their house every single day for two and three hours?”
As for the taxis, we spoke to a few cab companies. They said residents should call police to report the drivers parked where they shouldn’t be.
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