The story of stepped-up ticketing of drivers who park on the I-95 ramps to PHL sounds like deja vu all over again. Newspaper and TV reporters, starting as I recall with me and one or two others about four years ago, have been dutifully delivering the message from police and the airport that those idling on the ramps  should be waiting in the airport's official cell phone lot, or as the signs say, the park-and-ride lot, on Bartram Avenue. The problem is and has always been, as Linda Loyd's story in The Inquirer this morning and others note, most motorists still can't find Bartram, much less the lot itself.

So perhaps the tougher enforcement, and new signs, will teach some of those coming to the airport how to find the place and stay away from the dangerous practice of parking on the ramps where cars are flying off the interstate at 60 miles per hour.

But other airports with cell phone lots -- and that's at least half a dozen I've been to in this country -- have solved the problem by having the space for their lots precisely where PHL drivers now park. The lots are situated right off the main entrance roads, usually in places where the traffic has had to slow down to 25 mph or less. They're convenient, which our lot is not, and they're used.

Until PHL can solve that problem -- and it may be impossible to solve given the land-use constraints we have -- then PennDOT needs to use signage on I-95 and the Platt Bridge off ramps to help people find the lot. Otherwise, a few more drivers may find the lot with better signage. But I can mostly see more unhappy motorists either being ticketed or getting into disputes with police for slowing down at baggage claim.

Let's keep working on this problem folks, before anyone else is run down on the ramps.   

As of Thursday morning, Continental had joined US Airways and American in raising to $50 the fee for a second checked bag on flights to Europe and U.S. overseas territories. Don't be surprised if other transatlantic carriers also boost their fees, giving you something else to figure into the cost of a trip to Europe unless you can get by with just one piece of checked luggage. 

Here's what we posted on Wednesday afternoon:

US Airways just announced an increase in its checked-bag fees, matching what American has done. Starting with tickets sold today for travel Oct. 7 or after, the first checked bag will cost each passenger $20 if you check in online, or $25 if it's done at the airport. The second bag checked will be $30 if checking in online or $35 if you do it at the airport. As usual, the fees don't apply if you're traveling first or business class or are a "preferred" member of the frequent-flier program.

US Airways also said it would match, and go further, than American's new $50 fee for a second checked bag on overseas flights. (plus $5 if you check in at the airport instead of online). US Airways will charge the fee for all European destinations while American put out a list of countries where it will apply.

The airline has a decent, easy-to-read page on its Web site on is bag policies: http://www2.usairways.com/en-US/traveltools/baggage/baggagepolicies.html:

US Airways president Scott Kirby told employees in a notice today that the airline would also be "vigilant" in making sure carry-on bags are regulation size. Airlines have seen an increase in carry-ons since they started charging checked fees last year, and the more the fees go up, the more of that they're going to get. The airlines have adopted some size restrictions recently, so it pays to look at the US Airways site, or go to your airlines' Web site using the links in the right-hand column of this blog, to try to learn all that you can. 

I will take a closer look at what some airline CEOs think about fees in a future column, probably next Monday, so stand by.

Here's one more thing to be concerned about when you fly.

One of the most serious accidents PHL has ever seen, a fire in 2006 aboard a UPS jet that almost killed the crew, is one of the reasons the largest pilots' union is calling for a ban on shipping lithium batteries in aircraft cargo holds. There have been several other scary fires of a similar but less serious nature this year, and the Air Line Pilots Association declared yesterday that the batteries need to be kept out of planes.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was monitoring the situation and working on tougher regulations but is not prepared to take emergency action now. More detail can be found in this AP story.  It includes a paragraph on the PHL fire, which broke out as the UPS DC-8 jet approached the airport, forcing an emergency landing. The three-person crew wasn't seriously injured but barely escaped alive. The plane was destroyed by fire as it sat on on one of PHL's main long runways.

The alarm raised by the pilots made us think about how widespread the use of lithium battiers have become. They are now installed in millions of cell phones and numerous other electronic devices. Did you know that lithium batteries are prohibited from checked bags but you can carry two loose ones in carry-on bags, as well as those in your phone, camera or other device? I only vaguely recall having read that myself but am glad to be reminded.    

Sun Country, the leisure-oriented carrier that had another runway stranding at New York Kennedy Airport over the weekend, says it won't do it anymore. Waits will be limited to four hours, and the boss says he supports passenger-rights legislation pending in the Senate. Read a trade newspaper story here.