Airport Ground Access Research Articles

Assessing airport ground access by public transport in Chinese cities

This article assesses airport ground access by public transport in China. Recent literature has highlighted the economic, environmental and social significance of airport ground access. Existing studies on airport ground access have predominately centred on North America and Europe and, to date, limited attempts have been made to assess the emerging Chinese market. Studies of urban and transport geography have detailed the shifting air connectivity of Chinese cities and the economic impacts, but have paid little attention to ground access to airports. We, therefore, assess the ground accessibility to major Chinese airports based on online map services. Specifically, we characterise airport ground access across entire cities, as well as comparing time and monetary costs for travelling between airports and city centres by private car and public transport. We conclude with suggestions for future research, and call for more systematic data collection related to airport ground access.

MODELLING TRAVELLER’S GROUND ACCESS MODE CHOICE OF DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

With increased demand for air travel, airports have become economic engines of the regional development that connect aviation systems with other modes of transportation facilitating the movement of people and cargo. Originating air passengers account for the majority of passenger trips to and from an airport and have different ground access needs. Since the air transportation is interrelated to ground transportation, studying ground access mode choice of airport users is a crucial part of airport management and system planning. The purpose of this study is to identify Dubai International Airport (DXB) ground access mode characteristics and users located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has not been studied previously. Although there are many different modes of transportation serving the airport, yet personal vehicles are the main mode used to arrive to the airport. Binary logistic regression models are developed to evaluate access mode choice for originating air travelers focusing on the mix between private vehicle and public transportation system (taxi, limousine, bus network, and Dubai metro) using data collected specifically for this study. A total of 1012 air travelers were interviewed and completed the questionnaire in December 2014. Models result showed that access mode choice is significantly affected by different socio-economic characteristics of travelers including income, nationality, household size, vehicle ownership; and different trip characteristics that include number of travelers and how often air travelers use public ransportation in their community.

Modeling ground access mode choice behavior for Hamad International Airport in the 2022 FIFA World Cup city, Doha, Qatar

The Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha, Qatar is the only international airport operating in the country. The airport was officially opened in 2014 to function as the engine of the country's economic growth. Due to the anticipated high passenger demand of this airport, especially to account for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and in support of Qatar National Vision (2030), it is important to analyze, model, and evaluate the current and future airport ground access and traveler's modal choice. As such, the aim of this study is to analyze the current HIA ground access mode choice characteristics and users, examine the importance of introducing the Doha Metro to airport mode choice, and identify the preference of air travelers for this new mode. A revealed- and stated preference face-to face interview survey was conducted at the airport to collect data related to trip and user characteristics. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. Binary logit mode was used to the current access mode choice, and a multinomial logit model was used to model the future access mode choice after introducing the Doha Metro. The models results showed that current and future access mode choice is significantly affected by the trip and socioeconomic characteristics of the HIA users.

Understanding Issues in Airport Ground Access Modeling: Lessons from a Revealed Preference Study of New York Metropolitan Area Airports

Airport ground access mode choice models can provide a great deal of utility for airport facility managers tasked with landside access planning. However, the absence of definitive standards to guide the development of these airport planning tools often results in wide variations in methodological approaches that in turn generate counterintuitive mode choice model parameters and that often leads to improper understanding of the air passenger ground access trip. A new regional airport ground access model was developed in support of the New York City Department of Transportation’s LaGuardia Airport Access Alternatives Analysis Study. The air passenger model developed for the study included a set of market-segmented ground access mode choice models, developed by using revealed preference data from a 2005 survey commissioned by FAA. The model estimation process tested a number of analytical strategies to address some of the challenges typically encountered with revealed preference data and, in the process, uncovered some findings that should both aid future airport ground access mode choice modeling efforts and further illuminate the modeling community’s understanding of the value of time, particularly as it interacts with household income levels and various dimensions of business travel.

Airport Ground Access Reliability and Resilience of Transit Networks: a Case Study

Abstract Airport ground access is one of the key determinants influencing air travellers’ airport choice. The continuous growth of air travel demand and the consequent induced road congestion have encouraged the development of efficient transit systems approaching the airport, thus promoting a modal shift from individual cars to greener transport alternatives. In addition, transit systems must be resilient and reliable to air travellers, since the cost of missing a flight is high. In this paper, resilience aspects of transit systems accessing airport areas are discussed and some indexes have been set up to estimate the transit network resilience. Three different transit systems to get to a large regional Italian airport (Automated People Mover, Airport Shuttle Bus, Bus Line) are modelled and the system resilience has been estimated for each scenario by using the proposed indexes.

Modeling taxi drivers’ decisions for improving airport ground access: John F. Kennedy airport case

Taxi service is an important component of airport ground access, which affects the economic competitiveness of an airport and its potential positive impact on the surrounding region. Airports across the globe experience both taxi shortages and excesses due to various factors such as the airport’s proximity to the city center, timing and frequency of flights, and the fare structure. Since taxi drivers are independent entities whose decisions affect the taxi supply at airports, it is important to understand taxi drivers’ decision mechanisms in order to suggest policies and to maintain taxi demand and supply equilibrium at the airports. In this paper, New York City (NYC) taxi drivers’ decisions about airport pick-ups or cruising for customers at the end of each trip is modeled using logistic regression based on a large taxi GPS dataset. The presented approach helps to quantify the potential impacts of parameters and to rank their influence for policy recommendations. The results reveal that spatial variables (mainly related to proximity) have the highest impact on taxi drivers’ airport pickup decisions, followed by temporal, environmental and driver-shift related variables. Along with supplementary information from unstructured taxi driver interviews, the model results are used to suggest policies for the improvement of John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport’s ground access and passenger satisfaction, i.e. the implementation of taxi driver frequent airport server punch cards and a time-specific ride share program.

Airport ground access and urban congestion: a paradox of bi-modal networks

Airport ground access and urban congestion: a paradox of bi-modal networks

Measuring Air Carrier Passengers’ Values of Time by Trip Component

This paper investigates how the value of airline passenger time varies by trip component and how the calculation of value of time can be related to capital investments specific to each component. Travel time is often a significant consideration in benefit–cost analysis for airport projects. The empirical results reported in this paper are based on a stated preference survey and subsequent model estimation. The survey used two conjoint exercises—one related to airport ground access and in-airport time components and a second covering attributes related to the flight itinerary. It was found that values of time differ by trip segment and travelers’ trip purpose.

Analyzing, modeling, and assessing the performances of land use by airports

ABSTRACTThe air transport system consists of airports, airlines, and air traffic control (ATC). Airports are considered the system infrastructure occupying a certain area of land. This can be roughly divided into (i) the airside area containing runways, taxiways, and the apron-gate complex and (ii) the landside area including passenger and cargo terminals; space, buildings, facilities, and equipment for airport/airline-related activities; as well as the overall infrastructure of the airport ground access systems. Most airports are confronted with challenges such as incompatibility of land use and a lack of free land to expand to accommodate growing demand efficiently, effectively, and safely. To adequately deal with these challenges, an effective and compatible plan of airport land use needs to be developed with components such as (i) the airport design and operational criteria; (ii) requirements for safety of flights and unique land-use provision(s); and (iii) performances of land use. This article deals with analyzing, modeling, and assessing the physical/spatial, operational, economic, social, and environmental performances of land use by airport airside and landside areas. For such a purpose, a convenient methodology based on the indicators and their measures of performances of land use is developed and applied to selected airport cases.

Effects of non-aeronautical activities at airports on the public transport access system: A case study of Zurich Airport

Many planning authorities and airports study measures to increase public transport use for airport ground access and egress. At the same time, an increase in real estate development at and around airports is occurring, both due to airports seeking new revenue possibilities and other developers attempting to profit from high value locations. This paper considers non-aeronautical activities at large airports, largely commercial centres and transit hubs, as land uses that have the potential to improve the situation for operating public transport services. In order to assess potential benefits and disadvantages, four research questions are considered: (1) Can the additional travel volume reach levels at which it has a significant impact? (2) To what extent do non-aeronautical activities influence the public transport access system? (3) Is the resulting demand distribution better or worse regarding peaking behaviour? (4) Is there a potential for the resulting overall demand to bring about capacity shortages?A case study is conducted at the airport of Zurich, Switzerland, which finds that non-aeronautical activities in the direct airport vicinity have led to a situation where the operation of public transport services is much more viable due to overall higher passenger numbers and a more even distribution throughout the day. It is concluded that locating non-aeronautical activities at airports can, in addition to providing commercial benefits to developers, lead to a situation where improved public transport services become feasible.

Airport ground access and private car use: a segmentation analysis

The increasing scale of, and demand for, civil air transport world-wide has resulted in a greater volume of people travelling to and from airports. The vast majority of these journeys are made by private cars, which has led to traffic congestion and raised levels of air pollution in and around airports. Subsequently, airports are re-evaluating their approach to ground access mode choice and considering how to reduce the reliance on private cars. Based on a survey of passengers at Manchester Airport in the UK, attitude statements pertaining to psychological constructs from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Norm-Activation Theory, combined with key factors relating to the passenger’s trip, are used to identify eight behaviourally distinct groups of passengers with varying potential to reduce their private car use. Two of these groups, described as the Conflicted Greens and the Pessimistic Lift Seekers, are identified as having the greatest potential to reduce private car use to airports. Analysis reveals the need for decision makers to address the existing attitude–behaviour ‘gap’ that can prevent positive environmental attitudes being translated into the use of more sustainable modes, as well as tackling the perceived difficulty some passengers associate with using these modes.

Comparison of Mode Cost by Time of Day for Nondriving Airport Trips to and from New York City's Pennsylvania Station

A novel methodology used taxi global position system data and high-resolution transit schedule information to compare travel times and travel fares of the two main nondriving travel modes for airport ground access: taxi and transit. Five origin–destination pairs between Pennsylvania Station in New York City and three airports in the New York region were used as an example to demonstrate these methods. An analysis of total trip cost considered both travel time and expenditures on fare. A binary logit model was used to model the mode choice of travelers. The results indicate that transit is the more likely choice during most of the day except the midnight period when transit service has longer headways. A sensitivity analysis shows the relationship between the value of time and total trip cost per passenger for different numbers of passengers traveling together and at different times of day. The higher the value of time and the number of passengers in a group, the more likely it is that a taxi is chosen for airport trips. The attractiveness of one mode relative to the other varies spatially and temporally according to the travel time and price. This paper focuses on understanding temporal variation of total cost of each mode and the effect that this variation is likely to have on mode share.

Strategies for collaborative funding of intermodal airport ground access projects

Projects to improve airport ground access not only provide important intermodal connections but can also present difficult funding challenges. This paper reviews the recent literature on funding airport ground access projects as well as some of the wider literature on funding transportation projects in general in the United States (U.S.) that is indirectly relevant to airport ground access projects. This is followed by a review of current U.S. federal transportation funding programs relevant to airport ground access projects, as well as a discussion of state and local funding programs and potential opportunities for private sector funding. The paper then describes several case studies of airport ground access project funding that were undertaken as part of this research. Based on this discussion, the paper discusses potential funding strategies for intermodal airport ground access projects in the U.S., requirements for effective implementation of these strategies, and a recommended approach to facilitate successful project development and implementation. It also presents recommended changes to the transportation funding program rules and regulations in the U.S. that could facilitate and simplify the development of intermodal solutions to meet future airport ground access needs.

Factors affecting airport access mode choice for elderly air passengers

This research investigates whether elderly air passengers exhibit different mode choice behavior in regard to airport ground access. Using survey data from a Taiwanese sample, our results show that elderly air passengers prefer to ask family members to drive them to the airport, while general passengers prefer to take a taxi. The results also indicate that “safety” is the most important item in the choice of access mode and “user friendly” and “convenience for storing luggage” as the next most important items for the elderly. Elderly passengers are found to be less likely to use public transport than private transport. Factors such as “possessing a car in their household”, “carrying more luggage”, “spending more time spent in the vehicle”, and “higher ticket prices for public transport” increase the propensity for the elderly to use private transport.

Forecast of Airport Ground Access Mode Choice with the Incremental Logit Model

As factors affecting airport passengers' and other travelers' transportation choices constantly change, the probability of choosing a particular mode also changes. For example, an increase in highway congestion would tend to shift auto travelers to public transport, or an increase in transit fare would make auto traveling more attractive. Although current modal share of airport ground access can be easily determined from passenger's revealed preference surveys, any forecast on mode choice is difficult because characteristics of individual travelers vary. This paper attempts to forecast airport ground access and egress trips at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) with the incremental logit or pivot point model. The model is developed by using modal share data from a revealed preference survey conducted by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates JFK. The resulting model predicts how changes in highway travel time due to traffic congestion, increases in transit fare to the airport, and changes in waiting and transfer time in the AirTrain system may affect the mode choice of air passengers and employees traveling to and from the airport.

Funding Major Airport Ground Access Projects

Funding projects to improve the intermodal connectivity between the surface transportation system and airports is often complicated by the need to draw on a range of funding programs and sources, each with its own project eligibility requirements and regulations. This paper presents seven case studies of the funding sources used for a range of major intermodal airport ground access projects in the United States that were completed in the past 12 years or were under construction. The case studies were undertaken as part of a recently completed research study that investigated collaborative funding strategies to facilitate airport ground access. The projects included a major intermodal center, two automated people mover links between airports and nearby rail stations, two airport access highway projects, and two extensions of rail transit systems to airports. The funding sources for the seven projects varied widely with the nature and location of the project. All seven projects involved some collaboration between local, state, and federal agencies in developing the funding plan for each project, although the number of agencies involved varied, with the larger projects generally having more agencies involved in providing funding. This experience suggests that developing a funding plan for such projects requires the involvement of a broad range of stakeholder agencies in planning and implementing the project.

Who Rides Airport Railways?

A new methodology is proposed for postproject analysis of airport railways for guidance in planning airport ground access. The concept is to determine the type of rail passenger (air passenger or employee, business or leisure, and resident or nonresident) by comparison of hourly rail ridership, air passenger volumes, air traffic movements, and geographic location of trip ends. A test is proposed for each possible ridership group to determine who is using the railway. A case study of London City Airport is used to illustrate the value of the method with Oyster smartcard ridership data from Transport for London. Findings confirm that the impressive 51% Docklands Light Railway mode share for air passengers from small sample surveys is realistic: the railway connection is predominantly used by air passengers and not employees. The airport characteristics—predominantly business travelers, relatively central location, and local employees—simplify the analysis. Geographical information system analysis revealed one major surprise: the busiest station by trip ends is Woolwich Arsenal in southeast London. However, the general findings are as expected: trip ends concentrate in the financial and business districts. The policy recommendation for future airport railway projects is to apply this methodology to a range of comparable airports. This will aid transport planners in designing a rail service optimized for the groups most likely to use the railway.

Airports and Bicycles

Case studies examined how airport operators addressed bicycle access to their properties and the motivations and obstacles that they faced in light of new policies to integrate bicycles, along with transit and walking, into transportation planning, design, and construction and to increase the bicycle's role in the transportation system. Eight influential elements that emerged from the review of policy documents and research literature were used to guide interviews: governance structure, location, access roads, self-perceived environmental stewardship, spending restrictions on nonaviation transportation improvements, proximity to transit, policies and mandates to reduce environmental impacts, and land use constraints. Seven cases were selected on the basis of their inclusion in studies on key aspects of airport ground access: Oakland International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Los Angeles International Airport, California; Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, Washington; Boston Logan International Airport, Massachusetts; Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, Minnesota; and Portland International Airport, Oregon, an exemplar recommended by several informants. The discussion was limited to employee bicycle access, the focus of airport operators that invested in programs to reduce single-occupancy-vehicle travel at airports. During aggregation of the interviews, replicable approaches for improving bicycle access were identified, as were examples of innovative funding for multimodal access that used revenues generated through passenger facilities charges. The following areas are suggested for additional research: commute needs of airport employees, mode choice for ground access, and airport operator costs and benefits of bicycle access investments.

Using Fast-Time Simulations for Designing and Operating Airport Terminals as Nodes of Intermodaltransport

Ever growing traffic in air transport with associated capacity constraints brings problems to air passenger flows at airports. There is strong link between quality of airport ground access system and airport terminal operations. However, this aspect remains underestimated in the development plans of many airports all over the world, which results in underutilization of both planed and existing infrastructure. In efforts for improvement, the higher level of synchronization and coordination between air and ground transport needs to be achieved. For this purpose, a computer model enabling to simulate passenger flows within airport's catchment area has been developed by the Air Transport Department, University of Zilina. Thanks to this simulation model, it is possible to perform comprehensive operational, economic and environmental assessment of the innovative airport ground access concepts and thus facilitate designing and operating airports as nodes of intermodal transport.

Light Rail Rapid Transit systems for more sustainable ground accessibility of airports

This paper investigates the potential of Light Rail Rapid Transit (LRRT) to mitigate the environmental and social burden of ground access systems of an airport. This implies, on the one hand, LRRT's capability in mitigating externalities in terms of noise, air pollution/climate change, traffic incidents/accidents and congestion of airport ground access systems and, on the other, the provision of sufficient capacity to accommodate generally increasing volumes of both air passenger and airport employee demand by connecting the airport to its core catchment area. A methodology for assessing the capability of LRRT operating as an airport ground access system is developed. This methodology consists of models to analyze and predict demand and capacity for an LRRT system and models to quantify the externalities of particular airport ground access systems as well as assessing their prospective savings thanks to the introduction of an LRRT system. The methodology is applied to a large European airport – Amsterdam Schiphol (the Netherlands) – using a ‘what-if?’ scenario approach.