Oakland International Airport Research Articles

The role of airport costs in the post-9/11 recovery of San Francisco International Airport

This paper examines whether or to what extent San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO’s) purportedly high costs relative to other airports suppressed SFO’s traffic demand and prolonged the recovery of passenger traffic in the period after the 11th September, 2001 terrorist attacks. A comparative analysis of the historical data shows that SFO’s direct airport costs per enplanement (CPE) were higher than most other major airports in the post-9/11 period by a considerable margin, but that airport costs likely were not a significant factor in SFO’s prolonged recovery. Airport costs likely did not affect airline profitability sufficiently to influence route and scheduling decisions, and it is unlikely that passenger demand was dampened by the pass-through of higher costs to airfares. This research suggests at best a tenuous relationship between airport rates and passenger activity, and at SFO the evidence does not suggest that an extremely high CPE relative to peer airports affected the pace of its slow return to pre-9/11 traffic levels. Rather, the slow return of traffic to SFO and its neighbour, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), compared to the robust growth at Oakland International Airport (OAK) can be explained by traditional economic means. It also suggests that in a multi-airport region where each airport is somewhat specialised, an individual airport’s over- or underperformance relative to its neighbours is more likely to be a function of economic geography than of any airport’s rate-setting practices. If this conclusion holds true for other US airports, it emphasises the ability of airports to create capital plans and set rates and charges to make long-term investments in organic air traffic growth, ensuring that new entrant airlines have sufficient facilities to begin service and that existing airlines have sufficient capacity to grow.

Airport noise and performance-based navigation: A force for good or evil?

The global aviation system is in the midst of modernisation. This includes a transition to satellite-based navigation, which offers opportunities for improved safety, efficiency and predictability. This paper posits that — despite some false starts — performance-based navigation (PBN) also offers opportunities to address noise problems. PBN relies on satellites for navigation, rather than ground-based navigational aids. The improved precision of PBN routes generally results in concentration of flights into narrow corridors. When implemented without consideration of community impacts, it has resulted in significant community outcry (even lawsuits), but when implemented with care, it can offer potential to avoid noise-sensitive areas. Our experience shows that the most successful projects are those in which the airport has been fully engaged and in which there is extensive and meaningful collaboration between all stakeholders: air navigation service providers (ANSP), industry (including airlines and other operators), airports and communities. Participants should not expect this to be easy — it is a lengthy and expensive process — but one that may be necessary for long-term compatibility and for airport growth. This paper provides an overview of PBN development in the USA as well as case studies of implementation of PBN at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (AZ), Oakland International Airport (CA) and Boston Logan International Airport (MA). The case studies illustrate the increasing collaboration between stakeholders and show that progress can be made.

Impacts on Vehicle Occupancy and Airport Curb Congestion of Transportation Network Companies at Airports

How does the growth of transportation network companies (TNCs) at airports affect the use of shared modes and congestion? Using data from the 2015 passenger survey from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and Oakland International Airport (OAK), this research analyzes TNCs’ relationship with shared modes (modes that typically have higher vehicle-occupancy and include public transit such as buses and light rail, shared vans or shuttles) and the demand for their shared vs. standard service at the airport. Because TNCs both replace shared rides and make them possible, the research also measured the net effects at these airports. The results suggest that in 2015, TNCs caused 215,000 and 25,000 passengers to switch from shared to private modes at SFO and OAK, respectively. By 2020, the increase is expected to be about 840,000 and 107,000 passengers per year, respectively.

Multimodal Impact Analysis of an Airside Catastrophic Event: A Case Study of the Asiana Crash

Transportation networks constitute a critical infrastructure enabling the transfers of passengers and goods, with a significant impact on the economy at different scales. Transportation modes, whether air, road, or rail, are intrinsically coupled through passenger transfers and are interdependent. The frequent occurrence of perturbations on one or several modes disrupts passengers' entire journeys, directly and through ripple effects. This paper provides a case report of the Asiana crash in San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on July 6, 2013, and its repercussions on the multimodal transportation network. It studies the resulting propagation of disturbances on the transportation infrastructure in the USA, particularly on the U.S. air transport network and the ground transportation in the Bay Area. The perturbation takes different forms and varies in scale and time frame: cancelations and delays snowball in the airspace, with up to 86% of cancelations in the U.S. due to the SFO crash; highway traffic near the airport is impacted by congestion in previously not congested locations, with low speed and high delays on US 101; and transit passenger demand exhibits unusual traffic peaks in between airports in the Bay Area, with up to 180 passengers more per hour between SFO and Oakland International Airport Bay Area Rapid Transit stations. This paper also investigated the effect of the crash on the social media Twitter. This paper, through a case study, aims at stressing the importance of further data-driven research on interdependent infrastructure networks. The end goal is to form the basis for optimization models behind providing more reliable passenger door-to-door journeys and improved transport network resilience.

Airline–airport agreements in the San Francisco Bay Area: Effects on airline behavior and congestion at airports

This paper provides a methodological framework to analyze the decisions of airlines and travelers taking into account the contractual agreement between airports and airlines. This contract sets the fees that carriers pay for landing, the rental rate for the terminal space that they occupy, as well as the methodology to determine these charges. Using data from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK), we quantify the effects of changes in the agreement on the behavior of airlines and congestion at airports. In particular, we look at modifications in the design of charges and variations in the operating costs at airports. Counterfactuals suggest that different methodologies to compute charges and changes in airport costs may induce airlines to behave differently, affecting delays at airports.Our structural model captures important characteristics of the airline industry: endogeneity of airport charges with respect to decisions of travelers and carriers, correlation across markets, and two decision variables of airlines (fares and frequency of flights).

Measurement and analysis of aircraft engine PM emissions downwind of an active runway at the Oakland International Airport

The growth of commercial aviation has fueled concerns over air quality around airports and the surrounding communities. Airports must expand their operations to meet the increase in air traffic, but expansion plans have been delayed or canceled due to concerns over local air quality. This paper presents the methodology for real-time measurements of aircraft engine specific Particulate Matter (PM) emissions and analysis of the associated high resolution data acquired during normal Landing and Take-Off (LTO) operations 100–300 m downwind of an active taxi-/runway at the Oakland International Airport. The airframe–engine combinations studied included B737-300 with CFM56-3B engines, B737-700/800 with CFM56-7B engines, A320 with V2500-A5 engines, MD-80 with JT-8D engines, A300 with CF6-80 engines, DC-10 with CF6-50 engines, and CRJ-100/200 with CF34-3B engines. For all engine types studied, the size distributions were typically bimodal in nature with a nucleation mode comprised of freshly nucleated PM and an accumulation mode comprised mostly of PM soot with some condensed volatile material. The PM number-based emission index observed ranged between 7 × 1015–3 × 1017 particles kg−1 fuel burned at idle/taxi and between 4 × 1015–2 × 1017 particles kg−1 fuel burned at take-off, and the associated PM mass-based emission index (EIm) ranged between 0.1 and 0.7 g kg−1 fuel burned at both the idle/taxi and take-off conditions. Older technology engines such as the CFM56-3B and JT8D engines were observed to have as much as 3× higher PM EIm values at take-off compared to newer engine technology such as the CFM56-7B engine. The results from this study provide information for better characterizing evolving PM emissions from in-service commercial aircraft under normal LTO operations and assessing their impact on local and regional air quality and health related impacts.

Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis for Maximum Seismic Shear Stresses in Soils Using Improved Ground-Motion Parameters

Maximum seismic shear stresses (τmax) have been recognized as one of the important parameters in design practice. This study develops ground-motion parameters for τmax and implements these in probabilistic seismic hazard analysis to provide the τmax distribution of deep soil layers for design purposes. The application of improved ground-motion parameters for τmax is demonstrated at the Oakland International Airport, where a thick Young Bay Mud deposit exists under the artificial fill. Model biases in the predictive equations of seismic shear-stress reduction coefficients (rd) are evaluated by comparison with the site response analyses performed with a wide range of input ground motions. Based on these results, we introduce improved ground-motion parameters for τmax (Itau) as a linear combination of spectral accelerations, implemented in probabilistic seismic hazard analysis to calculate seismic hazard curves. Conditional mean spectra are calculated, given Itau at 10% in 50 years to illustrate the variations in frequency contents with depth compared with the uniform hazard spectra. Finally, τmax is calculated with depth by using hazard values of Itau and compared with the peak-ground-acceleration-based and uniform-hazard-spectra-based calculations. Analysis results show that τmax will be underestimated for deep soil layers by peak-ground-acceleration-based calculation if the median value of rd is used in design practice.

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.

A Tale of Two Airports: Exploring Flight Traffic at SFO and OAK

Tackling the airline on-time performance data from the Data Expo 2009 can be intimidating due to its unwieldy size. This paper demonstrates that concentrating on small subsets of the data can still reveal interesting stories. I explore flight traffic at two of the San Francisco Bay Area’s major airports. Simple graphical methods raise questions about differences between San Francisco International (SFO) and Oakland International (OAK) airport. Oakland International airport suffers a much lesser drop in traffic after September 11, 2001. This is found to be a consequence of Southwest Airlines accounting for most of the traffic out of OAK, the only carrier to maintain its flight volume after September 11. This article has supplementary material online.

Use of Passenger Rail Infrastructure for Goods Movement

As demand for freight movement rises, so does truck traffic. In turn, traffic congestion, harmful emissions, maintenance costs, and accidents increase. One alternative to truck transport of goods is mixed-goods service on passenger rail networks, a concept that offers several benefits to the involved parties. These benefits include additional revenue for rail operators, more reliable travel times, reductions in harmful trucking externalities, and more efficient usage of existing facilities. As a case study, the use of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in California for FedEx Express cargo movement is examined. FedEx Express was selected because the company's major hub is located at Oakland International Airport (OAK). To analyze the potential costs and benefits of BART mixed-goods service, two alternatives are compared against the status quo of truck-only transport. The first alternative assumes minor capital investment; the second assumes far greater capital investment, including a jointly operated BART–FedEx facility at OAK. Truck vehicle miles traveled (VMT), FedEx Express operating costs, BART operating costs, and carbon dioxide emissions are determined for the status quo and each alternative. Analysis shows that given sufficient demand, mixed-goods service can be profitable for passenger rail systems, cost-effective for air freight carriers, and highly effective in reducing truck VMT and associated externalities.

Aircraft Hydrocarbon Emissions at Oakland International Airport

To help airports improve emission inventory data, speciated hydrocarbon emission indices have been measured from in-use commercial, airfreight, and general aviation aircraft at Oakland International Airport. The compounds reported here include formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, ethene, propene, and benzene. At idle, the magnitude of hydrocarbon emission indices was variable and reflected differences in engine technology, actual throttle setting, and ambient temperature. Scaling the measured emission indices to the simultaneously measured formaldehyde (HCHO) emission index eliminated most of the observed variability. This result supports a uniform hydrocarbon emissions profile across engine types when the engine is operating near idle, which can greatly simplify how speciated hydrocarbons are handled in emission inventories. The magnitude of the measured hydrocarbon emission index observed in these measurements (ambient temperature range 12-22 degrees C) is a factor of 1.5-2.2 times larger than the certification benchmarks. Using estimates of operational fuel flow rates at idle, this analysis suggests that current emission inventories at the temperatures encountered at this airport underestimate hydrocarbon emissions from the idle phase of operation by 16-45%.

Earthquake Damage and Repair of Oakland Airport Runway

On October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake took place near Santa Cruz, Calif. Damage occurred as far as 100 km from the earthquake's epicenter. Of particular concern was damage to transportation systems and widespread disruption of utilities and lifeline facilities. Damage to airports in the vicinity of a major natural disaster, such as the Loma Prieta earthquake, is critical because airports are a major link in our national transportation system that can deliver emergency supplies and help. An investigation into a case history such as the damage that occurred at the Metropolitan Oakland International Airport provides valuable experience. The damage that occurred to the runway pavement was a result of liquefaction occurring in an underlying zone of dredged sand fill. Only the western 900 m of the 3,000-m Runway 11-29 was significantly damaged. This paper discusses the conditions that led to the failure of 900 m of Runway 11-29, describes the damage that occurred, and summarizes the repairs that were made to the runway.

Airport noise and passive radar monitoring for Oakland International Airport

Airport noise has been monitored at Oakland International Airport since early 1970s using mobile noise-monitoring terminals for one week sampling each calendar quarter in order to meet requirements of California state noise regulations. The Port of Oakland has recently installed a permanent airport noise and operations monitoring system that will enable achievement of three primary objectives: (1) gather acoustical data to meet California airport noise standards, (2) remove contribution of overflights from San Francisco International Airport to Oakland's noise exposure map, and (3) develop aircraft flight track measurements and positive identification of aircraft operators for community noise complaint resolution. Noise monitoring systems typically are passive in measuring only noise events. Oakland's system incorporates flight operations data and passive airport surveillance radar data to provide a proactive management tool for monitoring effectiveness of and compliance with existing noise abatement procedures. A discussion of this system will be made regarding its effectiveness in monitoring compliance with noise control procedures and in resolving community noise complaints.

Mass Production of Shells for the oakland International Airport

Mass Production of Shells for the oakland International Airport