Airport Ground Access Planning Guide



                                 PREFACE

                              TO THE READER

This report presents the results of the first phase of a project
jointly sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration and the
Federal Aviation Administration.  It outlines the process for planning
ground access to airports within the context of current laws,
regulations, and procedures.  This report identifies the key
components of an airport access work program, discusses performance
measures, and provides extensive information on alternative strategies
for improving airport access conditions.

Phase II of this project will complete the sections listed in the
table of contents, including data collection and surveys, forecasting
patterns and demand, evaluation, and implementation.

Comments regarding the content of this report, or any recommendations
for additional guidance or available information/data that might
appropriately be included in this report should be forwarded to:

                    Mr. Lee Chimini
                    Federal Highway Administration
                    Intermodal Division, HEP-50
                    400 7th Street, S.W.
                    Washington, D.C. 20590


CHAPTER ONE     INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

                       TO BE SUPPLIED IN FY 1996

CHAPTER TWO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

OVERVIEW OF AIRPORT GROUND ACCESS PLANNING PROCESS . . . . . . . . . 3
     2.1  OVERVIEW OF THE AIRPORT GROUND ACCESS PLANNING
PROCESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
     2.2  PROBLEM DEFINITION AND POLICY CONTEXT. . . . . . . . . . . 5
          Defining the Issues -- Examples from American
               Airports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
               Poor Accessibility and Economic Consequences. . . . . 5
               Accommodation of Economic Growth. . . . . . . . . . . 8
               Localized Air Quality Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . 8
               Guaranteed Service Availability for Airport
                    Passengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
               Environmental Mitigation for Surrounding
                    Communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
               Problem Definition -- A Summary of Experience . . . . 9
     2.3  AGENCIES, ROLES AND REGULATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
          FAA Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
               The Master Planning Process . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
               FAA s Planning and Design Guidelines for
                    Airport Terminal Facilities. . . . . . . . . .  11
          State and MPO Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
               The Transportation Planning and Programming
                    Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
               The Management Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
                    The Congestion Management System (CMS) . . . .  14
                    The Intermodal Management System (IMS) . . . .  15
               Role of The Major Investment Study (MIS). . . . . .  16
          Relationship Between Airport Access and the Clean
Air Act Conformity Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
               Programming Highway and Transit Projects for
Airport Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
               Determining Conformity under the General
                    Conformity Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
               FAA Funding under the General Conformity
                    Regulations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
     2.4  PREPARING THE WORK PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22


CHAPTER THREE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25

PERFORMANCE MEASURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
     3.1  THE LOGIC OF PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT . . . . . . . . . .  25
     3.2  EXAMPLES OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATION MEASURES FROM TWO
STATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
          Oregon Intermodal Management Systems Work Program  . . .  26
          The Development of a New Performance Measure at
               Boston Logan International Airport. . . . . . . . .  32
     3.3  AIRPORT GROUND ACCESS PERFORMANCE MEASURES -- AT THE
FACILITY LEVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34

CHAPTER FOUR     DATA COLLECTION AND SURVEYS . . . . . . . . . . .  39

                       TO BE SUPPLIED IN FY 1996

CHAPTER FIVE     PATTERNS AND DEMANDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41

                       TO BE SUPPLIED IN FY 1996

CHAPTER SIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43

ALTERNATIVES FOR IMPROVING AIRPORT ACCESS. . . . . . . . . . . . .  43
     6.1  ACCESS ROADS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  44
          Considerations Related to Access Roads Off Airport . . .  44
               Geometric Design Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . .  46
               Traffic Operations Alternatives . . . . . . . . . .  47
          Considerations Related to Access Roads Near Airports . .  47
               Geometric Design Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . .  48
               Traffic Operations Alternatives . . . . . . . . . .  49
          Considerations Related to On-Airport Roads
               (Excluding Terminal Curbside Areas) . . . . . . . .  50
               Airport Circulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51
               Principles for Design and Operation of Airport
Roads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  55
               Roadway Design to Accommodate Airport Taxi Cabs . .  57
               Geometric Design Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . .  57
               Traffic Operations Alternatives . . . . . . . . . .  59
               Transportation Enhancement Alternatives . . . . . .  61
               Management of Traffic During Construction . . . . .  62
     6.2  Parking Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  63
          Reallocation of spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  63
               Methods Of Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  65
               Parking Rates and Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . .  69
          Alternative Types of Parking Facilities. . . . . . . . .  69
               Structured Parking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  69
               Off-Airport Facilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  69
          Remote Employee Parking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  70
     6.3  Curbside Capacity Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . .  71
          Curbside Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  71
               Private Vehicle Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . .  72
               Taxicab Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  72
               Scheduled Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  73
               Nonscheduled Limousine and Charter Bus
                    Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  73
               Courtesy Vehicle Operations . . . . . . . . . . . .  73
          Curbside Management Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  73
               Objectives of Curbside Management . . . . . . . . .  74
               Curbside Enforcement and Traffic Control. . . . . .  75
          Curbside Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  77
               Horizontal Curbside Separation. . . . . . . . . . .  78
               Vertical Curbside Separation. . . . . . . . . . . .  80
               Supplemental Curbside Areas . . . . . . . . . . . .  81
     6.4  HIGH OCCUPANCY (HOV) MODES OF GROUND ACCESS. . . . . . .  83
          General Planning and Design Considerations . . . . . . .  83
               Market Segmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  83
               Characteristics of Successful Airport Access
Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  85
          Rubber-Tired Transit Service Options . . . . . . . . . .  87
               Publicly Sponsored and Airport Sponsored
                    Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  87
                    Traditional Public Bus Services. . . . . . . .  87
                    On-Airport Shuttle Services. . . . . . . . . .  88
                    Shuttles to Other Locations. . . . . . . . . .  88
               Privately Sponsored Services. . . . . . . . . . . .  91
                    Taxicabs (includes medallion taxicabs,
                         radio cabs, or metro cars). . . . . . . .  91
                    Door-to-door, shared-ride vans . . . . . . . .  93
                    Fixed-Route, Scheduled Services. . . . . . . .  93
               Prearranged Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  93
                    Chauffeured Limousine Services . . . . . . . .  93
                    Charter Vans and Buses . . . . . . . . . . . .  93
                    Courtesy Vehicles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  95
          Airport Rail Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  95
               Desirable Characteristics of Rail Service . . . . .  95
               Desirable Characteristics of Airport Rail
                    Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  96
          Access Characteristics of US Airports. . . . . . . . . .  98
               Forecasting Use of New Access Modes . . . . . . . .  99
               Access to Airports Served by Rubber Tired
                    Transit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
               Airports With Rail Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
     6.5  Intermodal Transportation Facilities . . . . . . . . . . 111
          On-airport Intermodal Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
               Mini-Terminals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
               Mega-Terminals/Ground Transportation Centers
(GTCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
               Intermodal Terminal Facility. . . . . . . . . . . . 114
               Planning Issues to be Considered in Designing
On-Airport Intermodal Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
          Off-airport Intermodal Facilities. . . . . . . . . . . . 115
               Limited Service Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
               Full Service Terminals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
               Planning Issues to be Considered in Designing
Off-Airport Intermodal Facilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
     6.6  Transportation Demand Management . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
          Management of  Employee Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
          Management of Passenger Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
          Management of Commercial Vehicles. . . . . . . . . . . . 120
          TDM Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
               High Occupancy Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
               Financial Incentives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
               Information and Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
               Parking Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

                               CHAPTER ONE

                              INTRODUCTION






                        TO BE SUPPLIED IN FY 1996




                    THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
                               CHAPTER TWO

           OVERVIEW OF AIRPORT GROUND ACCESS PLANNING PROCESS

In this chapter several major planning issues related to
airport ground access improvements will be examined. Some of
these concerns are driven by issues central to airport
managers and operators themselves.  Examples of these concerns
are the need to plan for expansion of airport capacity, need
to provide accessibility and support economic development in
key areas, and need to minimize environmental damage to
neighboring communities. Other issues are primarily of concern
to those with responsibility for transportation planning at
both the state and metropolitan level. Still other issues are
driven by the existence of various federal laws and
regulations. This chapter will review these key considerations
that evolve from the facility level, the metropolitan level,
the state level and the federal level.

This chapter is presented in two sections. First, a quick
overview of the proposed Airport Ground Access Planning
Process is presented. This overview establishes a seven step
planning process, each step related to succeeding chapters in
this Guide. Next, a summary of factors and concerns critical
in the undertaking of the first of these seven steps,  Problem
Definition and Policy Context  is presented. This section of
Chapter Two includes a review of various legal, regulatory and
institutional considerations that are necessary to understand
in the initial development of a work plan for an airport
ground access planning process.

2.1 OVERVIEW OF THE AIRPORT GROUND ACCESS PLANNING PROCESS

The planning process presented in this Guide has been designed
to encourage development of site specific analyses to be
carried out by regional and local planners in a manner
consistent with the planning process required for statewide
and system wide management systems. The planning process
described in this Guide has been designed to maximize
cooperation and collaboration between the airport-based
planning process and the state and metropolitan area
responsibilities for the preparation of the Congestion
Management System and the Intermodal Management System. The
chapters of this Guide have been organized to reflect the
steps of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
of 1991 (ISTEA) planning process, as applied to the
development of airport ground access strategies and projects. 

The seven steps of the process can be summarized as:

  1.     Define the problem: what is the policy issue being
           addressed?
  2.     Given the understanding of the policy issue, establish
         performance measures to be used in the program of monitoring
         and evaluation.

  3.     Collect data needed to support the application of the
         performance measures.

  4.     Understand existing and future conditions and 
         performance of the system.

  5.     Develop candidate strategies and actions.

  6.     Assess effectiveness of alternative strategies and
         actions, and select cost-effective actions.

  7.     Implement, monitor and feedback using the established
         performance measures.

The re-iterative nature of this program is illustrated in
Figure 2.1-1, which shows how program monitoring and feedback
is used throughout the process. Table 2.1-1 presents a brief
summary of each of the seven steps. The table provides a
description of the key aspects of each step, its basis in
federal regulations, and a list of examples of airport access
planning that illustrate the key issues in each phase.  This
tabular summary gives particular attention to those steps in
the process that have been given new or heightened roles by
the ISTEA planning process, such as the importance of
performance measurement.

Click HERE for graphic.

Figure 2.1-1 - The Seven Steps of the Ground Access Planning
Process

2.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION AND POLICY CONTEXT

The earliest steps in the airport ground access planning
process must be based on an understanding of existing
requirements concerning the planning of airports and the
regional transportation system, coupled with a sensitivity to
the policy issues of local importance. Each of the following
chapters of this Guide is designed to help the transportation
planning practitioner understand a specific step in the
airport ground transportation planning process. In the first
step, an understanding is developed of the purpose and need
for improvements in airport ground access.  This key step of
problem definition must be undertaken in the context of, and
with the understanding of, a wide variety of legislative,
regulatory and institutional concerns.   Some of these
concerns are airport driven, -- driven by the needs of the
airport itself, while others are based in the need to deal
with factors that exist off the airport, including the need to
participate in the region s comprehensive transportation
planning and programming process.

Defining the Issues -- Examples from American Airports

One key to a successful airport ground access program is the
need to understand from the beginning the policy issues being
addressed in the development of the program. The ISTEA
planning process places a great emphasis on the early
development of performance measures, which aid in monitoring
of existing conditions, and in the prediction of changes in
performance as a result of the policy interventions under
examination.  The derivation of these performance measures,
and examples of their use is discussed in Chapter Three of
this Guide.  The key to successful selection of performance
measures is the clear understanding of the public policy
issues that are to be observed through the mechanisms of those
performance measures.  

Separate American airports have developed ground access
strategies in response to highly differing policy concerns.
Those policy concerns range from a perception that lack of
access is constraining economic growth, in one case, to
concerns that too much traffic stemming from rapid growth is
causing environmental damage in another case. The breadth of
policy issues that lead to the adoption of an airport ground
access strategy can be seen in the following examples from
American airports.

Poor Accessibility and Economic Consequences

Perceived lack of accessibility is a key policy issue driving
many efforts to improve ground access conditions. One example
is the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which has
calculated that more than $20 million per year are lost to
congestion induced delays for JFK alone, a calculation that
includes lost income to air travelers, automobile, limousine
and taxi drivers and airport employees. This kind of
inaccessibility has direct spin off implications for the
region s economy: the Authority reports that for firms leaving
the greater New York City area, poor access to the airports is
the second most mentioned reason for dissatisfaction with the
area.  The Authority notes that growth at the New York
airports has 

TABLE 2.1-1 SEVEN-STEP AIRPORT PLANNING PROCESS
Step Basis in Regulations Purpose Examples in Airport Access
One:

Definition Problem and Policy context
"The IMS shall identify intermodal facilities and intermodal transportation systems and establish the demands placed upon them to accommodate intrastate, interstate, and/or international movements of people and goods." Careful determination of central policy issues faced by the airport, its unique characteristic and setting defines what kinds of "performance" it is important to monitor. An airport in a non-attainment area must lower total VMT associated with airport access. Isolation of a rural airport without adequate connection to the regions controlled access highway system.
Two:

Define Performance Measures
"Parameters shall be identified that are suitable to measure and evaluate the efficiency of intermodal facilities and systems in moving people and goods from origin to destination. Parameters may include total travel time, cost and volumes for moving cargo and passengers, origins and destinations, capacity, accidents, ease of access, perceived quality and the average time to transfer people or freight from one mode to another." Early establishment of "the rules of the game", (i.e., the measures which will be used in the determination of the success or failure of the system performance). However, the selection of measures is undertaken only after agreement on the nature of challenge faced in and around the subject airport. Quality of traffic flow on the access roads near and on the airport. Amount of choice offered to arriving passenger. Is there adequate taxi, shared ride van, and scheduled bus service? Percentage of region served by shared ride services? Percent of passengers that arrive by other than private vehicle or single ride taxi? Percent of passengers that arrive in vehicle with low emissions propulsion?
Three:

Collect the Data Needed to Apply Performance Measures.
"The IMS shall include a continuing data collection and system monitoring program. It shall include a base year inventory consisting of physical and operational characteristics of intermodal facilities and systems, and surveys of the operational and physical characteristics of intermodal facilities and systems based on performance measures established by State and local transportation agencies." Data collection efforts should document both asset condition and level of performance. Airport access patterns are usually understood by examining a variety of data sources including: periodic ground access surveys, ridership and revenue data, and regional trip tables based on a simulated process. Operational characteristics may include time, cost capacity and usage. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey program monitoring ground access patterns to JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports in continuous operation for several decades. Highly valuable time series data in a consistent format is available for a wide variety of data categories. Changes in ground access market share by geographic area and travel market segment can be traced over several decades.
Four:

Understand Patterns and Demands
"Data collection and system monitoring shall be used by the States and local agencies to evaluate the performance of intermodal facilities and systems to determine the efficiency of the movement of people and goods." Ground access problem can be identified, based on an understanding of existing and projected conditions and existing performance. Is demand skewed toward CBD, or focussed on some other concentrated district? Is congestion better or worse than it was five years ago? At times of greatest congestion, is the airport serving primarily resident non-business travelers, or nonresident business travelers? What will conditions be like 5, 10 or 20 years from now? Pathbreaking work has been undertaken at the San Francisco airport to understand, and to model, existing conditions and patterns in ground access (e.g.,nature of elasticities with relation to price of parking, evaluation of policy options for managing and regulating shared ride van operators) for application to near and long term policy issues. The Washington, D.C. MPO has prepared an Airport Ground Access Element of their Airport System Plan.
Five:

Develop Alternative Strategies and Actions
"Statewide and local strategies and actions that improve the intermodal efficiency for the movement of people and goods shall be developed and evaluated. Methods for increasing productivity and the use of advanced technologies . . . shall be evaluated where appropriate. The evaluation program shall determine what project or combination of projects and actions would most effectively improve the intermodal productivity of transportation systems, in terms of the established performance measures, for both the short and long term." Deficiencies of system have been established at a detail that should help to define a reasonable range of alternatives for testing and evaluation. It is critical that the options considered include a full range of possible solutions, beyond the initial concepts of highway and rail. In San Francisco the private sector has developed an elaborate shared ride van system, with the public sector examining major options to provide the appropriate level of regulation to those services. Water transportation services are a part of overall strategies in Boston and New York, and are under discussion in San Francisco. Policies range from striping at curb that encourages non-SOV airport access to the creation of exclusive right-of-way service, such as at Cleveland, Chicago, and Atlanta. Physical examples include careful placement of public mode services at closer curb of main baggage claim area In New Orleans. Institutional examples include design of the franchise for ground access services at Charlotte or New Orleans, or the creation of new taxi cab system at Dulles. The creation of a two-tiered service level concept at Toronto Pearson airport responds to sudden growth of unregulated limo and black car services around the world.
Six:

Analyze and Evaluate Alternative Strategies and Actions
"The evaluation program shall determine what project or combination of projects and actions would most effectively improve the intermodal productivity of transportation systems, in terms of the established performance measures, for both the short and long term."

Performance measures established early in the process are used to evaluate alternative actions and policies. Chapter Seven of this Guide examines a cross section of evaluation tools. The evaluation of alternative strategies can be based on indices that go beyond the analysis of vehicle flows, and include such concepts as the mobility of people and goods, and accessibility to various activities and land uses. In New York Area, the airport access project is the subject of full major investment analysis, including preparation of a final environmental impact statement. In Salt Lake City analysis of alternatives focussed on near term options to deal with serious air quality non-attainment situation. In Boston, evaluation of alternatives shifted from an initial focus on availability of modes to an analysis of the total vehicle miles of travel implications of all modal options.
Seven:

Implement and Monitor Selected Policy Interventions
"A process for periodic assessment of the effectiveness of implemented strategies, in terms of the area's established performance measures, shall be implemented. The results of this evaluation shall be provided to decision makers to provide guidance on selection of effective strategies for future implementation." Strategies implemented are influenced by goals, objectives and performance measures of specific cases under consideration. In Salt Lake, the dominant policy issue was air quality, not service quality; thus selected strategy changed the level of pollution from shuttle vans, rather than changing travel time. Salt Lake and Washington National provide space for all on-airport rental car operations in garage near terminal eliminating VMT caused by multiple courtesy vehicles by separate rental car companies. Massachusetts Port Authority is monitoring and periodically reassessing its overall ground access strategy. The agency has monitored the air quality implications of its actions ranging from parking pricing policies to the monthly variations in ridership on its express bus services. A series of comprehensive ground access surveys are taken every five years, which make it possible to observe change in the travel behavior of different market segments of users.
been stagnant recently. In a recent newsletter, they compare this lack of growth with the experience of Zurich, Frankfurt, and Washington, which have had continued air traffic growth in spite of poor economic conditions for the host economies. In fact, much of the growth in international travel has shifted across the Hudson River to Newark, which has better travel times to the traditional financial districts and other adjacent markets. Accommodation of Economic Growth A desire to accommodate growth, with better service to the airport user, is a common motivation for investment in airport access. The total reconfiguration of the Pittsburgh airport from a multi-finger-pier airport to a modern mid-field airside terminal configuration caused the need for new state highway investment to the new landside terminal area, much the same as Atlanta had done a decade before. A major partnership was born between the airport agency and the state highway agency to reconfigure the airport, and prepare for its growth as a hub. Similarly, to provide infrastructure for continued growth, Las Vegas has now assembled an innovative financial proposal that calls for aviation funds to be used within the airport boundaries, and for National Highway System funding outside of the airport boundaries. Other airports facing rapid growth, such as Manchester New Hampshire, are working with state highway departments to plan and implement totally new access routes. Localized Air Quality Problems The desire to contribute to regional air quality concerns has motivated the Salt Lake City airport to undertake a program to minimize particulate pollutants both on and off of the airport. Meteorologically, the Salt Lake City airport is located in a different air basin from the downtown area of the city, and the airport is the chief activity center for this area. Thus, for given policy intervention under consideration in Salt Lake, the policy issue at hand is not the improvement of travel times to the airport, (as is the case in the New York City project), but rather the particulates being created due to airport related activities. Thus, while developing a program to replace all diesel equipment on the airside with electric or compressed natural gas, the airport began a program to purchase natural gas vans for private operators of ground access services. By a creative use of on-airport user fee structures, the expense borne by the operator is returned by a lower fee structure. Note that this policy intervention neither increases the number of persons using the high occupancy vans, decreases travel time nor changes roadway congestion levels. Rather, it deals with the issue of particulate pollution, which is the specific environmental problem being faced. Guaranteed Service Availability for Airport Passengers Dealing with the ground transportation needs of the air passenger is a continuing reason to develop innovative programs in airport ground access. In Charlotte, North Carolina an exclusive franchise to sell tickets for shared ride services has been granted to one company. In turn, this company must agree to provide at least two vans waiting at the baggage pick up curb at all times from 6:00 a.m. to midnight - -whether or not there is any demand for the services. As part of the contract with the city, no one will wait for an on- demand service for more than 15 minutes. Similar institutional arrangements were established in 1991 in New Orleans, when one shuttle van firm was given exclusive rights to sell tickets at the airport. As a result of this regulatory structure, the operators of this service have attained a load factor of 7.5 passengers per trip, which is exceptional for a small van operation. These two cities experience follows the development of a similar franchise concept at Washington s Dulles International airport, which applies to all outgoing taxis as well as shared ride services. At Dulles a holding company has been granted an exclusive right to pick up taxi patrons at the airport. That company, in turn, provides services through 285 owner-operated cabs. Each of these cabs can be no more than four years old, and must meet strict standards of performance. Environmental Mitigation for Surrounding Communities The aggressive program to improve ground access services at Boston s Logan International Airport was developed based on a concern to lower the environmental damage being experienced by adjacent communities, most noticeably East Boston. For this reason, the alternative policies and scenarios examined for Massport have focussed on the minimization of vehicle trips through the impacted neighborhoods as the prime concern. This concern has led to a focusing on the number of ground transportation trips caused by a given number of air traveler trips. In this evaluative system, a wide variety of strategies are examined for their impact on vehicle mile traveled (VMT) generation: Massport planners have focused on strategies that can lower VMT experienced in the adjacent neighborhoods. Using a performance measure described in Chapter Three of this Guide, Massport planners looked at public policy interventions in terms of their ability to effectively minimize VMT. In a given case, that policy might seek to encourage the pick- up/drop-off trip to become a drive alone/park trip. These concept challenges some of the most fundamental performance measures used in areas other than airport ground access planning. A vehicle with two persons -- one of whom will then return home after dropping off the air passenger-- is not considered to be more efficient that a vehicle with one passenger going directly to the parking garage. This performance measure was developed in response to an understanding of the policy issue defined for this particular airport-- that of environmental disruption of adjacent communities. Problem Definition -- A Summary of Experience For a rural airport experiencing sudden growth and severe isolation, the principal problem of airport ground access can often be quickly defined as a lack of high quality roadway capacity. For an airport in an older metropolitan area suffering from non-attainment of air quality standards, such as Boston s Logan airport, the problem of airport ground access is one of lowering VMT-- even to the point of subsidizing services to accomplish this. For Charlotte North Carolina, the ground access problem was concerned with the lack of available services for air passengers. For Salt Lake City, the ground access problem was not travel time, but rather the emissions of particulates. In each of these examples from American airports, the nature of the problem being addressed is first carefully defined. Based on this understanding of the unique circumstances of the individual airport, a program of ground access improvements can be developed. This review of experience in problem definition among American airports suggests that there are essentially two major categories of concerns leading to improvements in airport ground transportation: those for airports that have air quality attainment and congestion issues, and those that do not. For the airport manager in a region that has attained the national air quality standards, and that does not suffer from significant levels of congestion, the ground access issue turns to the standards of accessibility experienced by the user. For the airport manager in a region that must alter the emissions generation of all mobile sources, the issue of airport ground access quickly turns to the task of becoming part of a larger region-wide strategy to deal with mobile source emissions. This will affect the formulations of goals and objective for the program, and will affect the nature of the implementation strategies that must precede funding for a successful program. In the following sections of this Chapter of the Guide, the roles of various agencies having a role in the definition of relevant policy considerations will be reviewed. 2.3 AGENCIES, ROLES AND REGULATIONS FAA Planning The Master Planning Process The establishment of basic policy direction concerning airport planning comes from the several phases of the existing planning process; for the metropolitan area, establishment of basic goals and objectives occurs in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. The airport, too, should have its basic program for growth and development established in its own airport master planning process. The concept of including ground access consideration into that master planning process is not new, and is well established in existing Federal Aviation Administration guidance for the airport planning process. Concerning the preparation of Airport Master Plans, Advisory Circular 150/5050-6a says this about Airport Access Plans: This element of the airport master plan should indicate proposed or existing routes from the airport to central business districts and to points of connection with existing or planned ground transportation arteries and beltways. All modes of access should be considered including highways, rapid transit, and access by helicopters. The airport access plan should be of a general nature since detailed plans of access outside the boundaries of the airport will be developed by the highway departments, transit authorities, and comprehensive planning bodies. Special studies of access systems beyond the airport boundary will normally not be included in a master plan effort. FAA s Planning and Design Guidelines for Airport Terminal Facilities The concept that the details of the airport access plan must be developed with agencies outside of the airport boundaries is further developed in Advisory Circular 150/5360-13: Planning and Design Guidelines for Airport Terminal Facilities, which states: Circulation systems within the airport boundaries should minimize congestion and support efficient access to the passenger terminal. Ground access systems extend beyond the airport boundaries and a thorough analysis of motor vehicle traffic flows associated with current and projected future air passenger demand is essential to assure that ground congestion does not become an unanticipated constraint on a passenger terminal s performance. Given that this thorough analysis of motor vehicle traffic flows should occur, and that these flows will happen primarily on facilities outside of the airport boundaries, the Circular emphasizes that local and regional transportation authorities as well as public operators of ground transport services, should be included in the planning and design process. The Planning and Design circular also emphasizes that the ground access system should include more than highway access, and incorporate public modes where appropriate: Public transit system service ground access to the airport, preferably the airport terminal area, should be considered. High quality public transit service, as provided by rail systems or express bus operations can attract significant ridership and help alleviate vehicular congestion in the terminal area. Easy direct access to terminal buildings, as well as baggage transport and security, are essential to encourage substantial passenger use. The FAA documents make clear that airport ground access is at once an essential part of the airport s master planning and design responsibilities, and, at the same time must function within the context of regional transportation systems and the policies of government agencies typically unrelated to the airports operation. A main purpose of this Guide is to document the nature of the planning process, and to aid practitioners in building partnerships between on-airport planning and activities and those managed off of the airport. State and MPO Planning The Transportation Planning and Programming Process Both states and the Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are involved in airport ground access issues at two levels, planning and programming. When an airport access project has been defined and its costs have become understood, the proponent must be skilled at the task of obtaining funding through the programming process. But, long before the stage of clear project definition, the subject of airport ground access is developed and analyzed in the planning process undertaken at both the state and MPO level. The proponent of airport access improvements needs to develop an understanding of both these critical areas. The major steps of the planning and programming processes are summarized in Figure 2.3-1. The key steps in that process are summarized in this section of Chapter Two. Click HERE for graphic. Figure 2.301 The (FHWA) Planning and Programming Process Source 6 The Transportation Planning Process is represented in Figure 2.3-1 as a multi-layered process, expressed in the diagram in three dimensions. The time orientation in this planning process is long term, at twenty years or longer. This time frame allows the thoughtful analysis of such issues as land use change and land use policy, that require the longer time orientation. In the words of the Joint Planning Regulations, addressing at least a twenty year planning horizon, the plan shall include both long-range and short range strategies/actions that lead to the development of an integrated transportation system that facilitates the efficient movement of people and goods. The plan must be updated at least every three years in air quality non- attainment areas, and every five years in attainment areas. Included within this transportation planning process are dimensions such as energy policy, freight planning, and system preservation. One of the key layers in this transportation planning process is the management systems. As described later, management systems represent a major tool for the analysis of the success or failure of access to intermodal facilities, such as airports. Within this multifaceted planning process revealed needs are analyzed and from this analysis stems the development of proposed projects for implementation. During the planning phase, the process is not driven by the image of the desired facility, but rather by the analysis of need. In the planning process, solutions that are based on policies -- such as change in pricing, change in regulation, or change in management strategy-- are given equal level of attention with solutions that involve traditional capital investment concepts. These projects and policies are assembled into the long range Transportation Plan, as illustrated by the arrow feeding from the planning process to the Transportation Plan. From the longer list of projects in the Transportation Plan, a shorter range Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is created. The TIP shall cover a period of not less than 3 years, but may cover a longer period . . . the priority list shall group the projects that are to be undertaken in each of the years . . . Beyond the three years, the priorities can be more loosely defined. A project that appears on the first years priority list (often referred to as the annual element of the TIP) is eligible for federal funding in that year. ======================================== Section 1024 of ISTEA requires that metropolitan planning incorporate 15 factors, one that covers: International border crossings and access to ports, airports, intermodal transportation facilities, major freight distribution routes, national parks, recreation areas, monuments, historic sites and military installations. ======================================== The ISTEA process of planning and evaluation continues with the monitoring and feedback of the actual performance resulting from the projects and strategies implemented. This performance information serves as input to the continuing transportation planning process. It should be noted that this process applies to both metropolitan based, and state based planning and programming. For most issues of airport access, the primary location for programming activities will lie with the MPO. For that reason, the discussion that follows focuses on the planning and programming activities at the MPO level. In most cases, as projects are developed at the regional level, the statewide programming functions incorporate the results of regional decisions with a process the parallels that of regional approvals. The Management Systems As illustrated in Figure 2.3-1, within the layers of tools and considerations contained within the Transportation Planning Process, the management systems are a key element in the development of the understanding of transportation needs, and the analysis of potential strategies to deal with those needs. For the proponent of airport ground access improvements, two of the six management systems noted on Figure 2.3-1 are the most important: the Congestion Management System, (CMS), and the Intermodal Management System, (IMS). The passage of ISTEA has mandated certain major shifts of emphasis in the transportation planning process. Some of these changes are designed to better support the relationship between planning and the implementation of the Clean Air Act as amended. Others are related to a major theme of the ISTEA legislation, that of accountability, which brings about a new emphasis on the monitoring and continued evaluation of the implications, strategies and actions undertaken. Both the CMS and IMS have been developed to both monitor the status of the system, and to allow for the quick evaluation of conceptual level plans and strategies to deal with the problems of the system revealed through the program of monitoring and feedback. The Congestion Management System (CMS) ======================================== The CMS is a systematic process of: identifying and implementing strategies that provide the most efficient use of existing and future transportation facilities in all areas of a State.. . where congestion is occurring or expected to occur; Considering strategies that reduce single occupant vehicle travel and improve existing transportation system efficiency ======================================== The planner of airport access improvement has to be aware of the importance of incorporating non-Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) elements into the access program whenever possible. This will maximize the chances of funding proposed improvements that may increase general purpose travel capacity. Importantly, strategies to deal with the increased highway capacity are not limited to the actual roadways under consideration for funding. Once a decision has been made to include a highway that expands capacity, the CMS program is expected to provide for programs throughout the corridor in which the new facility is located: "The CMS shall provide an appropriate analysis of all reasonable (including multimodal) travel demand reduction and operational management strategies for the corridor in which a project that will result in a significant increase in capacity for SOVs (adding general purpose lanes to an existing highway or constructing a new highway) is proposed." The legislation is specific concerning the range of strategies to be considered within a CMS. The regulations call for "considering strategies that reduce single occupant vehicle travel and improve existing transportation system efficiency." The CMS plays a major role in determining the eligibility of major improvements, such as the creation of a new highway to serve an airport. Of particular importance to the development of airport access plans and strategies is the policy mandate established by ISTEA concerning the construction of general purpose roadways, or roadway facilities without provisions for priority to high occupancy vehicles. Section 450.320 (b) of the State and Metropolitan planning regulations state that in areas "...designated as non-attainment for ozone or carbon dioxide. Federal funds may not be programmed for any project that will result in a significant increase in carrying capacity for single occupant vehicle (a new general purpose highway on a new location, or adding general purpose lanes, with the exception of safety improvements or the elimination of bottlenecks) unless the project results from congestion management system (CMS)... ======================================== Strategies That must Be Considered for Congestion Management System o Transportation Demand Management o Traffic operation improvement o High occupancy vehicles o Public transit capital and operation improvements o Nontraditional modes (e.g., bicycles and pedestrian facilities) o Congestion pricing o Growth management and activity center strategies o Access management techniques o Incident management o Intelligent Transportation system technologies, and, (lastly,) o Addition of general purpose lanes. ======================================== The Intermodal Management System (IMS) The purpose of the IMS is summarized in the ISTEA planning regulations that call for the state to develop an IMS that provides efficient, safe and convenient movement of people and goods through integration of transportation facilities and systems and that improves the coordination in planning and implementation of facilities for air, water, and the various land-based systems. The IMS was developed to help focus policy attention on issues such as airport ground access, where the planning of one mode should become better integrated with the planning of other modes. Airports are clearly one of the intermodal facilities for which the system is designed. An intermodal facility is defined in the regulations as highway elements providing terminal access, coastal, inland and Great Lake ports, canals, pipeline farms, airports, marine and/or rail terminals, major truck terminals, transit terminals including park and ride facilities, and intercity bus terminals." ======================================== The Intermodal Management System is a "systematic process which: identifies key linkages between one or more modes of transportation where the performance of use of one mode will affect another, defines strategies for improving the effectiveness of these modal interactions, and evaluates and implements these strategies." ======================================== For many airport access issues, the IMS can be seen as a highly specialized subset of the CMS, which calls for policy attention at specific sub elements of the system. While the CMS examines the quality of mobility of people and goods for large scale systems (in all areas where congestion exists or can reasonably be expected) the IMS focuses on the relatively smaller set of facilities and services, generally referred to as intermodal facilities. Once the problems of this subset of the transportation system are defined, the intended goals of the policy interventions are essentially the same as those goals defined by the CMS: to improve the mobility of people and goods, and to make most efficient use of the existing system. The CMS plays a major role in determining the eligibility of major improvements, such as the creation of a new highway to serve an airport. Of particular importance to the development of airport access plans and strategies is the policy mandate established by ISTEA concerning the construction of general purpose roadways, or roadway facilities without provisions for priority to high occupancy vehicles. Section 450.320 (b) of the State and Metropolitan planning regulations state that in areas "...designated as non-attainment for ozone or carbon dioxide, Federal funds may not be programmed for any project that will result in a significant increase in carrying capacity for single occupant vehicle (a new general purpose highway on a new location, or adding general purpose lanes, with the exception of safety improvements or the elimination of bottlenecks) unless the project results from congestion management system (CMS) . . . " The IMS process is inherently different from the CMS process in several ways. First, while the CMS process will often be developed and managed at a metropolitan level, under the general supervision of the state, the IMS is clearly a statewide function. Second, the IMS process is less closely linked to sanctions than the CMS. Failure to include a proposed airport access road in the CMS process could make federal funding impossible. The IMS, by contrast, is an opportunity for the airport ground access planner to bring the problem of inadequate access to the state programming process, where it must be at least addressed at the level of detail appropriate for the management systems. In many ways the IMS process serves as something of a warning flag that signals the existence of a problem in the overall performance of the system. Role of The Major Investment Study (MIS) A key element in the transportation planning process for airport ground access solutions is the development of specific projects that require significant capital investment. Within the derivation of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan, planning is first undertaken at a regional systems level that involves analysis of the entire geographic area, and the understanding of the full system. Corridors and subareas are then defined for more detailed development of projects and policies. The process by which the data describing need for transportation improvements is transformed into specific projects, policies and actions for corridors and subareas is called the Major Investment Study. To define a corridor or subarea the MIS planning regulations refer to a set of travel markets affected by mobility problems/needs and possible transportation improvements, based on the understanding of specific set of origins and destinations. The travel market affected by mobility problems for a MIS could be defined as all trips to and from the airport. The MIS must be undertaken in a metropolitan area when the need to consider a major transportation investment has been identified by the planning process, and where federal funds might become involved, even at a later date. Figure 2.3-2 shows the five steps in the conduct of a Major Investment Study, which include: o Initiation; o Development of Initial Set of Alternatives; o Screening and Decisions on Detailed Set of Alternatives; o Analysis, Refinement and Evaluation of the Alternatives; and o Selection of the Preferred Investment Strategy. At the end of the MIS, the project as been defined in terms of mode, and in terms of scope (e.g. number of through lanes.) The project development phase then follows, in which design options within the established concept and scope then are examined. The purpose of project development is to examine alternatives within that established design concept and scope. This can only happen to a project which has been accepted on the TIP ( and on the revised plan if needed). From this point serious design options like the location of stations, and specific right of way can be analyzed. Click HERE for graphic. Figure 2.3-2, Major Investment Study Process Source 8 For some projects, the filing of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will come at the completion of the MIS, while, for others, the draft EIS will wait until the development of design alternatives, and will array the possible design alternatives. The Final EIS then documents the design alternative proposed for implementation. As always, the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process is not completed until the acceptance of the Final EIS, through the record of decision. Relationship Between Airport Access and the Clean Air Act Conformity Regulations With the completion of the MIS phase, the proposed airport ground access project has been defined in terms of Design Concept and Scope (e.g., the project has been determined to be a freeway of six lanes.) With this new level of detail, the relationship of the proposed project to regional air quality attainment can be calculated. For a project seeking highway or transit funding (as opposed to FAA funding) the project must be reviewed for its conformity with the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for attainment of clean air standards under the transportation conformity rules. With the new information about the design concept and scope of the project emerging from the MIS process, the project must be added to the existing Metropolitan Transportation Plan to ensure that the Plan still conforms to the SIP. For areas that are suffering from non-attainment of certain air quality standards, the state is required to prepare a State Implementation Plan that commits to a plan that brings the region s air quality in compliance with national standards. According to the regulations, the Metropolitan Transportation Plan can only be approved if it is consistent with the SIP. As new projects are developed, they must first be added to the Transportation Plan, the plan is then checked for conformity with the SIP, and projects from the plan added to the TIP. The TIP is then reexamined for its conformity with the SIP. In making this determination, the managers of the SIP must determine that these projects will not cause or contribute to new violations of air quality standards, exacerbate existing violations, or interfere with timely attainment or required interim emission reductions towards attainment. Programming Highway and Transit Projects for Airport Access For airport access projects that require either highway or transit funding, and are located in a region with non- attainment status there are three separate steps in which the candidate project will be reviewed for conformity with air quality requirements. The upper third of Figure 2.3-3 shows that the entire Metropolitan Plan is tested against the no- build base case to determine whether the implementation of the entire plan would bring about conformity with the air quality improvements required in the SIP. If it does not bring about the desired improvements, then either (a) the plan has to be revised or (b) the SIP has to be revised. If it does attain conformity, the projects contained therein can be inserted into the three-year program of priority projects known as the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). No project outside of the Plan can be added to the TIP. Even if an access project is not expected to use federal highway or transit funds, certain provisions of the transportation conformity rule may apply to the project. All regionally significant nonfederal projects (any facility serving major activity centers and other regional needs), must be included in the regional emissions analysis for a transportation plan or TIP (40 CFR 93.103/40 CFR 51.452). In addition, no agency that receives Federal highway or transit funds may approve a regionally significant highway or transit project, regardless of the funding source, unless it comes from a conforming plan and TIP, or it is in the regional emissions analysis supporting the currently conforming TIP, or it meets other tests (40 CFR 93.129/40 CFR 51.450). It is important to note that at this early stage of project definition and development, the candidate project may not be defined to the level of Design Concept and Scope necessary to understand its particular impact on regional emissions. (Design Concept refers to the nature of the facility, such as freeway, or rail line, while Scope refers to the number of lanes or tracks.) If the required MIS for the candidate project is not completed, the Metropolitan Transportation Plan can proceed with a place keeper element that can take two forms. The Plan can contain a best guess of the outcome of the MIS, or the plan can contain the no-build case for the candidate project. At such time as the MIS has defined the design concept and scope for the project, the Plan must again be examined for conformity with the project included in order for the candidate project to be carried into the TIP. Click HERE for graphic. Figure 2.3-3 Transportation Conformity Process Source 10 Assuming that the plan achieved conformity status with the SIP, the selected projects of the TIP are now examined for their collective impact on conformity with the requirements of the SIP. As shown in the of Figure 2.3-3, if the TIP is found not to conform, changes must be made in either the TIP, the Plan, or the SIP to achieve conformity. As the TIP-approved project continues its project-based EIS, the third check for conformity occurs, as shown on the bottom third of Figure 2.3-3. By this time, the proposed alternative within the established Design Concept and Scope have been selected, and the project has sufficient detail to forecast its impacts on relevant intersections and Hot Spots for Carbon Monoxide. Armed with this data, the project itself is tested for its conformity with the requirements of the SIP. Determining Conformity under the General Conformity Regulations The process summarized in Figure 2.3-3 is required for those projects funded through the various sources available to fund highway and transit improvements. Funds from the FAA, on the other hand, are covered under the general conformity regulations that cover most other Federal expenditures. As the final rulemaking notes, the general conformity rule covers all other Federal actions, including those associated with railroads, airports, and ports." In overall intent, the process is similar. In order to be found in conformity with the SIP, a given project, such as a new airport parking garage for example, has to be found not to cause a new violation, worsen existing violations, or slow down the schedule for attainment established in the SIP. ======================================== To fully understand the implications of the general conformity regulations for airport ground access, it is important to examine the kind of air quality impacts for which the airport must develop a mitigation program. The Environmental Protection Agency has made it clear that the general conformity rule will cover the indirect emissions caused by vehicles coming to and going from the new facility. ======================================== It is important to understand the type of air quality impacts that an airport must examine. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made it clear that the general conformity rule will cover new emissions, both direct and indirect, which the airport agency can practicably control, and which it will maintain control over due to a continuing operational responsibility. Therefore airports should check with the appropriate FAA Airports District Office to determine the need for determining air quality impacts under the general conformity rule. This clarification has considerable impact on the study of access to intermodal facilities, and to airports in specific. The regulation establishes that when an airport operator intends to spend federal funds on a project within the boundaries of the airport, the air pollution emissions impacts experienced off the facility must be documented to the standards required by the SIP. In short, this means that airport operators must become involved in the development of mitigation measures that minimize the growth of SOV travel, (i.e., that list of policy options which is the focus of the Congestion Management System). For the airport operator the general conformity determination will require the examination of the air quality implications of the proposed investment in two situations: first, general conformity determination will be necessary for investments affecting patterns of ground access directly, such as the investment in a new or widened airport access road on airport property. Second, conformity determination will be necessary when seeking federal funds for airport improvements not primarily associated with access, but which for one reason or another increase the number of vehicles coming to the airport. In both situations, the airport operator must become a partner in the development of the region s CMS, and other actions to bring the region into attainment status for air quality. FAA Funding under the General Conformity Regulations An airport operator who intends to spend FAA funds on a project to improve airport ground access within the borders of the airport must follow the procedures defined for general conformity determination. However, the general regulations allow for the transportation investment to use procedures established under the transportation regulations if the proponent succeeds in having the MPO place the project on the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. If included in the plan, the project can attain approvals under the process described in Figure 2.3-3 above. At local discretion, the airport operator can proceed under the provisions of the general conformity regulations, which require that more work is done by the proponent and less by the MPO process. The advantages of this option stem from the fact that the proponent can proceed independently of the MPO, and its cycle of SIP approvals and revisions. However, the subject of airport ground access usually involves considerable intervention off of the airport property, and will, by its nature, require assertive cooperation with the state and MPO planners. Given these considerations, the adoption of the transportation conformity regulations for programs of airport access improvements often represents the most prudent and cautious approach to conformity determination. Further, since an airport access improvement is likely to be subject to the nonfederal project requirements of the transportation rule, it must be included in a regional transportation emissions analysis. This also argues for utilizing the MPO process for completing conformity. 2.4 PREPARING THE WORK PROGRAM After the successful completion of the process of examining both the policy context and problem definition, a technical work program needs to be established to guide the following six steps in the Airport Ground Access Planning Process. As an example, Figure 2-4 shows the structure of a technical work program, the Key components of each step, and the chapters of this Guide that discuss them. Click HERE for graphic. Figure 2.4-1 Technical Approach to Airport Access Planning Click HERE for graphic. Figure 2.4(cont.) Technical Approach to Airport Access Planning THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK CHAPTER THREE PERFORMANCE MEASURES 3.1 THE LOGIC OF PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT It is a characteristic of the planning process mandated by ISTEA that the rules for program monitoring and evaluation be established early in the cycle. The planner is asked to determine at an early juncture what measures of performance and effectiveness will be utilized in the program of monitoring and evaluation. It is particularly important that the key issues for monitoring be well established and agreed upon before commencement of major, and possibly expensive, data collection efforts are begun. This Chapter of the Guide has been prepared to help local planners and administrators develop goals, objectives, and performance measurements that are relevant to the needs of the local community. Efforts at developing performance measures in Oregon and Boston are summarized in this section. Finally, Chapter Three ends with a proposed basic list of areas for performance evaluation by those just starting the process of ISTEA-based planning for airport access improvements. In this Guide , the concept of performance measurement is presented for application in two different contexts. First, performance measurement at the systems level is a key concept in two of the ISTEA mandated procedures, the Congestion Management System (CMS) and the Intermodal Management System (IMS) discussed in Chapter two. In these two important procedures, the effectiveness of strategies to improve airport ground access is examined at a systems level. In any given state, the statewide IMS might make observations concerning the characteristics of ground access for ten separate airports. Thus, the performance measures used in statewide planning will focus on the overall adequacy of the system, rather than on the details of any given airport. Often, this regionally oriented, or statewide oriented, process serves as an early warning alarm that access problems exist, particularly when compared with the same aggregate level observations for other facilities. The detailed programs to deal with deficiencies observed using the two management systems (IMS and CMS) are often developed at the facility level, which is managed in most cases by the airport owner/operator. In many cases, the goals, objectives and measures developed and applied at a region wide, or statewide scale will differ qualitatively from the goals, objectives and measures developed and applied on a site specific basis. This is because their functions are somewhat different. In a hypothetical example, back up queues extending into the arterial road system might be documented in a statewide or region wide management system. In the statewide analysis, the measures might focus on the impacts experienced on the state highway. The measures established would be appropriate for this scale of observation. The facility manager, on the other hand, looking at the same problem, might want to study curb dwell times, or alternative curb management strategies. This Guide has been designed to be of value to both those charged with observing the performance of the system at the statewide or region wide level, and those charged with dealing with performance at the facility level. 3.2 EXAMPLES OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATION MEASURES FROM TWO STATES Oregon Intermodal Management Systems Work Program An excellent example of the kinds of considerations appropriate at the statewide level is provided in the Oregon Intermodal Management System, one of the most respected management system efforts in the county. The list of goals and objectives and performance measures summarized in Table 3.1-1 shows a classic formulation of a system level observation. Goal: Accessibility/Availability. Within the general policy goal of improving accessibility and availability, the Oregon work program defined three specific objectives: 1. Minimize travel time to service. To measure performance relative to this objective, base case travel times are collected to major activity centers, or to the major connecting highway. With the creation of alternative strategies and actions for testing, various strategies are then evaluated in terms of their effects on travel time. In theory, this performance measure should be modally unbiased, and can be used to measure the impacts of a wide variety of strategies, from changes in regulation of taxicabs to the creation of new transportation facility capacity. The use of this measure requires the existence of some method of calculating change in door to door times. A fully operational network simulation can be used for developing this measure. 2. Optimize access for disabled for connecting services. The issue of ADA compliance within the IMS is a sensitive one. In general, the IMS is considered to be a relatively ineffective mechanism for the enforcement of the provisions of the ADA. However, the field surveys associated with the IMS represent an opportunity for recording and assessing the quality of access for all persons, including those with disabilities. In the examination of the quality of airport ground access, the focus of the analysis would be more toward the ability to make connections at the terminal facility, rather than with the architectural details within the facility. However important these may be, they have more effective mechanisms of enforcement that through the systems- oriented vantage point of the IMS. 3. Provide capacity for peak hour loads. It is under the objectives of Accessibility /Availability that the Oregon system places the observation of level of service, and the queuing of vehicles -- perhaps the most common of the measures of the quality of airport access. In terms of monitoring, the expedient of observing the characteristics of back up queues can be used, providing it is done in a systematic manner. Level of service observations at the terminal area are discussed in Chapter Five of this Guide. This measure is oriented to capacity observations, such as V/C -LOS, rather than user-based travel times. Goal: Affordability/Cost Minimization. To carry out the general goal of improving affordability in airport ground access, the Oregon program called for two specific objectives: 1. Minimize external and direct social costs. The external costs of airport ground access should be carefully broken out from the external costs of the airport operation itself. Thus, the burden of noise from airplanes experienced by a neighboring community would not be included in an IMS, while the burden of increased noise and pollution stemming from airport-generated traffic in a community would be appropriate for inclusion in the IMS. Measurements here include the classic issues for roadway external impacts, air, noise, community disruption, impact on historic sites etc. Under this objective, the Oregon work program also makes reference to subsidization -- are the cost of airport ground services being borne by groups other than the airport users? 2. Minimize capital costs. Under this potential performance measure, the capital cost implications of candidate strategies and actions must be noted and evaluated. The extent to which this is measure of the performance of a system can be debated; alternatively cost can be seen as a constraint within which various levels of performance are examined. However, if a policy goal minimize cost is established, then saving expenses can be seen as measurable level of performance. Goal: Connectivity Between Modes. To carry out the general policy goal of improving connectivity between modes, the Oregon program established three specific objectives: 1. Connect major routes to local modes. The quality of connection between modes is the major focus of attention of the IMS. In order to measure this aspect of quality, a useful surrogate is the wait time (or layover time) between modes. The schedules of the connecting carriers can be used to build the base case data description. Thus, service to a given town center by limousine might be every two hours in the base case, and every 70 minutes in the proposed candidate strategy. A logical composite would look at service intervals for all modes combined. Thus, combining scheduled bus and airport limos, the town received service every 90 minutes.
Table 3.1-1 An Example of Goals, Objectives and Measures at the Systems Planning Level: From Oregon Intermodal Management System
Goals Objectives Performance Measures Data Needed Source of Data
Accessibility Availability Minimize Travel Time Travel Time to Major Destinations Airport and State Transportation Facility Information, Population and Employment data. Regional Transportation Simulations. Should be available.
Optimize ADA Access Extent of Attainment of ADA Compliance Airport Compliance Schedules On Site Inventory of Compliance
Provide Peak Capacity Extent of Vehicle Queuing, and Overall Delay Quantification of Observed Delay and Back up Review Carrier Logs for On-time Performance
Affordability/ Cost Minimization Minimize Social Costs Subsidies and Environmental Costs Revenue Recovery, Quantified Pollution Costs FAA Summaries, Including Subsidies, Environmental Models
Minimize Capital Costs Maximized Use of Existing Capacity Cost Models, Condition Ratings Master Plans, Construction Cost Data; Inventory
Connectivity Between Modes Connect to Major Routes Service Availability Layover Times Between Modes. Travel Times. Schedules, Limo/bus Timetables Review Plans, Conduct On-site Inventory
Provide Access Between Modes Parking Space per Passenger; Limo Space per Passenger; Loading Area per Passenger Passenger Counts Parking/loading Areas Review Plans, Conduct On-site Inventory
Promote Easy Transfer Between Modes Time and Distance of Transfer Between Modes less than N Minutes and N Feet Facility Plans and Specifications, surveys, field Inventory; Survey Customers On Quality of Transfer
Convenience/ Benefit Maximization Make Transit as Convenient as Possible Availability of Remote Intermodal Ticketing and Luggage Support Existing Ticketing Choices Inventory Existing Services and Timetables
Promote Info on Intermodal Service Available Level of Dissemination of Information on Options Existing Information/Knowledge of Intermodal services. Inventory Existing Information Strategies; Consumer Surveys
Flexibility Have Options Available for Bus, Limo and Shared Rider Services Availability of Ground Access Options Inventory of Services Available Conduct Inventory of Existing Choices
Maximize Schedules Three Round Trips/day between Commercial Airports Schedules Review timetables
Provide Frequent HOV Service to Airports Set Classification System by Market Density Schedules Review timetables
Mobility Make Airport Limo/bus Competitive with Autos Ratio of Travel Times Travel Times and Speeds Travel time studies, schedules
Reliability Improve on Time Performance at Terminals Percent of Aircraft and Surface Transport Departures Outside of 15 Minute Schedule On-time performance Internal Logs of Carries
Safety Improve Safety in Motion Both Air and Connecting Modes Accidents per Passenger Mile Accident Frequency and Severity Data Collect Data from Police and FAA
Legal/ Regulatory Reduce Obstacles to Service Provision Minimized Limitations to Use of Facilities by HOV Modes Synopsis of Current Regulations Survey Users and Service Providers
Encourage Innovative Service Extent of Innovative Management Synopsis of Current Regulations Survey Users and Providers
2. Provide access between modes. This is a capacity measure, looking at facility capacity, including such observations as number of spaces per bus, spaces per limousine, and parking spaces per user. This could be a very important measure during periods of transition, such as that currently experienced by many airports that do not have facilities to deal with the sudden growth of prearranged private limousines, also known as black cars. This data would provide a quantitative base to deal with the difficult issue of allocating curb space between vehicle categories. For areas with no air pollution issue, more parking spaces per user would be considered desirable; for areas facing travel demand management strategies, maximization of available parking spaces may or not be considered a good policy goal. 3. Promote easy transfer between modes. This measure would observe both the time and distance of transfer perhaps expressed as percent of transfers which take place under x minutes, or y feet. Unlike many operations oriented measures, this largely aids in the critique of design of existing facilities, and the development of designs for new or altered facilities. It could also be seen as a design standard, which is somewhat different from a performance measure. Goal: Convenience/Benefit Maximization: To carry out the policy goal of improving convenience and maximizing benefit to the users, the Oregon work program defined two objectives: 1. Make public modes convenient. Under this category, a review would be undertaken of strategies available to the user to encourage the use of higher occupancy vehicle modes. Included in such possible strategies are the use of off site check in facilities, and various schemes to aid with baggage. When seen as a performance measure, a simple check off of the existence or nonexistence of such strategies would serve as the tool of measurement. In the base case condition, for example, none of the possible strategies would be recorded as in place; in the candidate strategy, one airport might offer free sky cap service to the bus plaza, or ensure no-cost baggage carts between drop off points and the interior check- in area. The description of this review as a performance measure could be debated. 2. Promote information on service availability. An important measure of the quality of airport access is the availability of information to the public concerning airport access options, particularly those which utilize higher occupancy vehicle services. Thus, one measure of the performance of the system is the review of existing strategies and their effectiveness. The most desirable tool for this measurement would be a home interview survey, which gauges the extent of knowledge of access options for the frequent users and seldom users alike. Lesser cost data collection would be a subjective review of the available public information mechanisms, including the extent of distribution of schedules. Goal: Flexibility: To implement the policy goal of maximizing flexibility for the users of airports in Oregon the work program defined two objectives: 1. Have modal choices to/from airport. One of the most basic categories of data to collect in the study of airport access is the existence, or lack of existence, of alternatives to the private automobile. Thus, upon commencing an examination of ground access conditions, the very first piece of data would be the simple presence of various modes, while the attributes of the modes, and the quality of their services would be analyzed at a later step. In addition to observing the attributes, the program must also record the performance of the system, often measured in terms of the number of riders choosing higher occupancy vehicle modes. The performance of these various modes is analyzed most directly by examining their mode share. Mode share to non-single occupant modes is one of the most effective measures of the performance of the system, in terms of its contribution to CMS and IMS strategies of the region. 2. Maximize schedules. In the Oregon Transportation Plan, specific service standards are established for air service within the state. This measure is more appropriate for the discussion of a statewide systems plan than for a discussion of ground access. 3. Provide frequent HOV services to airport. This measure would document frequency of service, and is largely overlapped with earlier measures which observed waiting time (or layover time) between services. Concerning the policy goals of increasing mobility, reliability and safety for users of ground access systems, the Oregon work program defined these objectives: Goal: Mobility. Make HOV modes competitive with auto. Mobility for non-SOV mode options is best documented by overall travel times experienced by the user. Surveys of the actual experiences of the user, (including delays associated with the shared ride concept) should be undertaken. Other measures of comparative mobility include comparative speeds; this same data can be expressed as comparative average speeds, or comparative average travel times over a specified distance. In California, a mobility index has been created that calculates (in effect) vehicle speed times vehicle occupancy to create an index of the mobility provided by a given facility. Goal: Reliability. Improve on time performance for connecting mode. The extent to which service providers actually produce services on time is important to document, particularly when the user may be waiting outside at the curb area. Collecting this data will require some level of self reporting form the service providers. Percentage of service which leaves more than 15 minutes behind schedule is recommended as a performance measure in the Oregon work program. Goal: Safety. Improve safety on modes and in terminals. Accidents per 1000 passenger miles can be obtained from police or public utility commissions. Crime reports and accidents in the parking lots can be recorded. In the Minnesota IMS work program, for example, the first performance measure established concerned the perception of safety from crime experienced by the customer. The second measure was the empirical data on reported crime. Goal: Legal / Regulatory. Two objectives are noted under the broadly defined goal of regal and regulatory reform: 1. Reduce obstacles to service provision. While finding measures of performance in this area may be difficult, it is clear that the extent to which service improvements are being constrained by regulatory constraints should be documented. Forming a measure of regulatory user friendliness is probably unnecessary. The Oregon document suggests a synopsis of current regs. 2. Encourage innovative service. The extent to which existing legal and regulatory mechanisms facilitate public private partnerships is noted in this category. Again, what is proposed is less a measure of performance than a survey of existing conditions which could be improved. The Development of a New Performance Measure at Boston Logan International Airport While the Oregon Statewide Intermodal Management System serves as an example of the integration of policy issues established on a statewide basis with the observation of performance in airport access, Boston s Logan Airport can be used as an example for the development of a facility-based program of performance measurement. As noted in Chapter Two, a key question in the definition of policy objectives concerns the attainment status of the region in terms of the Clean Air Act. Boston has a serious air pollution problem, which is particularly intense in many neighborhoods surrounding Logan Airport. Thus, great emphasis has been placed on the development of strategies which will minimize the environmental implications on the adjacent neighborhoods. In the 1970's, one commonly used measure of success of the ground access strategy was the mode split to rail transit. During the late 1960's a variety of possible investments in rail transit to Logan were examined, with a prediction of the change in mode split to rail as a principal evaluative measure. During the 1970's the percentage of air passengers arriving by car fell sharply, with a growth in higher occupancy vehicle modes. Importantly, over a 20 year period the mode split to rail transit grew from 6%, to 8% while the mode split to buses and limos grew from 4% to 16%. Thus, with the conscious development of a ground access strategy in the 1970's and 1980's, mode split to all HOV modes (including rail transit) received considerable policy emphasis. With the passage of the Clean Air Act, the analysis of ground access patterns to Logan had to examine all of the policy options available to control the growth of VMT to the airport. It became clear to policy makers that not only was it important to examine the percentage of passengers coming by non-auto modes, but also to examine significant variations within the auto mode. Early in the 1990's Massport policy analysts developed a new tool, based on a very robust performance measure. Table 3.2-1 shows the relationship between the major mode choices and the actual number of vehicle trips using the roadways near the airport. Table 3.2-1 shows, for example, that in the common pick up/drop off mode, 1.29 vehicle trips are generated for each one way air passenger trip. For the drive/park mode, only .74 vehicle trips are generated per air passenger trip. In a region with significant Clean Air Attainment problems, planners must expect to use a full calculation of regional VMT change as a principal performance measure for the evaluation of projects, strategies and actions under consideration. Table 3.2-1 Ground Access Vehicle Trips per Air Passenger Trip Mode VT/PT Pick-Up/Drop-Off 1.29 Taxi 1.09 Parking .74 Rental Car .69 Door to Door Shuttle .33 Scheduled Bus .10 Rapid Transit 0 However, the use of regional VMT involves a relatively cumbersome process of modeling to have much validity. Massport policy analysts were seeking a shortcut measure with which to rapidly review a wide variety of policy options. The most effective of these quick turn around methods is the use of the basic performance measure, Vehicle trips per passenger trip. In this innovative evaluative method, any policy action that has the effect of moving the passenger to a lower ranking on the levels shown in Table 3.2-1 is considered to be positive. Any policy action which has the effect of moving the passenger up the list is considered to be negative. In the world of developing multimodal planning techniques, this method is exemplary in that it is modally blind and can be applied to a wide variety of possible policy interventions. An investment in a rail transit facility, for example, can be compared with the alteration of a parking pricing policy, using the same metric of evaluation. With the utilization of appropriate elasticity factors, policy options that attempt to bring about change in travel behavior within the private-auto mode can be compared with options which attempt to move the passenger away from private to public modes. The policy implications of the data on Table 3.2-1 are extremely important; for the data shows that influencing modal choices within the auto mode must be part of comprehensive access strategy, in addition to the traditional study of shifting passengers from automobiles to transit. Table 3.2-1 shows that, for every 100 air passenger trips shifting from bus to rapid transit would decrease vehicle trips by 10. Looking at an entirely different kind of policy initiative, moving 100 passengers from drop-off mode to park-alone mode would decrease vehicle trips by 55. (Similarly, moving 100 passengers from taxi to door to door shuttle would decrease vehicle trips by 41.) This analysis led Massport policy planners to focus their attention on the role of parking supply and parking pricing, in an effort to deal with the serious problem of the pick-up/drop-off trip. The analysis suggested that it would be cost effective to invest in a major advertising campaign to discourage the pick-up/drop-off trip. For regions that do not have to examine a wide variety of policies to deal with congestion and air quality issues, the performance measure vehicle trips per passenger trip may require a more detailed level of analysis than is warranted. However, for airports and regions where the cost-effective analysis of a wide variety of strategies is mandated, the use of Massport s new performance evaluation metric can provide the policy maker with a sense of how candidate strategies may affect separate market segments, and of the likelihood of their success. 3.3 AIRPORT GROUND ACCESS PERFORMANCE MEASURES -- AT THE FACILITY LEVEL In this chapter of the Guide , a wide variety of experiences with performance measurement for airport ground access has been reviewed. It is important at this juncture to emphasize the fact that the science, or the art, of performance measurement in a specialized field like airport ground access is in its infancy. Thus, it is reasonable to explore what could be considered the basic essential measures to be used in the early years of application of performance measurement. This chapter of the Guide concludes with a review of some of the basic information appropriate for performance measurement in the area or airport ground access: a short list of basic data elements for inclusion in performance evaluation is presented, and are also summarized in Table 3.3-1. 1. Level of Service on Connecting Link. The most commonly used measure of the quality of airport access, and perhaps the first element of data to be collected, will be the level of service on the access road between the airport and the major expressway system. The level of service on that road (or collection of roads) often serves as an early warning system for other, more difficult to measure aspects of airport ground access quality. For those systems with dedicated transit rights of way, similar observations can be made about the quality of service on the transit facilities as well. 2. Quality of Condition on Connecting Link. Separate from the performance of the transportation system over the road is the question of the physical quality of the facility itself. Substandard curves, radius, or structural conditions can signal major issues that must be addressed. In addition, many areas are concerned about the general aesthetic conditions of the connection between the airport and the major areas served. It is common to call for a parkway. For those American airports with dedicated right of way transit, this category would include a review of the conditions of that facility. 3. Choices for Access. After the observation of the basic characteristics of the connecting linkage, the next question concerns the existence of a variety of modes to provide services. Is there taxi service? Is there guaranteed taxi service for each airplane arrival? Are there rental cars? Is pedestrian access good? Can the facility be accessed by bicycle? Are there limousines? Is there connection to the local public transportation system, i.e., a local bus? Before the issue of quality of service is raised, and before the issue of use of separate modes is raised, this inventory of options can be very effective in the analysis of deficiencies. 4. Quality of Non-SOV Service Options. Having undertaken the inventory of ground access service options, the next question concerns the adequacy of those services. Are limousines available to major destinations every hour or less? Are shared ride services available with less than a «-hour wait to form the group? Do taxi regulations insist on clean, well-maintained vehicles? Do illegal operators form a threat to public safety? 5. Mode Split to Non-SOV Service Options. Over time the quickest, and most statistically relevant manner in which to observe the success or failure of airport access services as part of regional transportation policy is the careful tracking of the mode splits for all of the access modes. This implies the implementation of a program of surveying on a regular basis, every two or five years, for example. The survey can then be updated by anecdotal observation of changes in volumes on any particular mode; however it is essential that a systematic effort be undertaken on a predefined interval in order to have a statistically valid basis for observation. 6. Air Quality/Congestion Relief Characteristics of Access. For airports located in areas found to be in non-attainment for Clean Air Act compliance, the simple observation of modes utilized may not be adequate to support necessary documentation and analysis. Performance indices may need to be created that record the actual occupancy of airport users for each mode, as well as rudimentary characteristics of the air pollution generating characteristics of the vehicle itself. Thus, a 40-passenger bus carrying five persons may show poorer performance that an 8-passenger van carrying four passengers, for example. Also, the monitoring system should pay particular attention to the problem of pick-up/drop-off trips, which have exceptionally negative VMT implications. The level of detail required for this analysis will be determined in the Environmental Scoping Process with the relevant air quality agencies; attention should be directed to the use of cost- effective surrogates to the full scale air quality modeling process. Massport s performance measure, vehicle trips per passenger trip, is an example of a measure designed to evaluate congestion relief strategies. 7. Safety. In this area, it is possible to spend valuable, scarce resource organizing data that most logically belongs in other jurisdictions, including the Safety Management Plan. However, to the extent that data organized by others reveals statistically significant patterns, or to the extent that user surveys reveal that perception of unsafe conditions is affecting travel patterns, safety characteristics should be noted in the overall review of the quality of airport access services. Examples include the inadequate regulation and supervision of taxi and limousine services, which might be particularly relevant at airports, serving persons with no knowledge of the area. 8. Public Information / Community Acceptance. Community perceptions of conditions and services play a major role in influencing travel behavior. At the facility level, a survey of the adequacy of public information services for ground access will make possible an assessment of the performance of the system in terms of information and direction. At the community level, a quick canvass of activities can determine the extent to which business and community leaders are involved in encouraging high quality access to the local airport facility, as a function of civic pride. At the neighborhood level, it should be determined if communities impacted by vehicles going to and from the airport are aware of, or involved in, efforts to minimize external impacts of successful airport operations.
Table 3.3-1
Performance Measures at the Facility Level: A Startup List
Policy Concern Performance Measure Data Source
1 . Quality of Service on Access Facility Level of service
V/C Crowding conditions on transit if relevant
Seasonal traffic counts
Seasonal ridership counts
Basic capacity data
2 . Condition of Access Facility Structural condition
Design standards
Ride quality
Maintenance records
Field examinations
3 . Existence of Choices for Ground Access Number of modes, by functional category Schedules
Operating agreements
Permits etc.
4 . Quality of Non-SOV Services Headways
Waiting times
Vehicle cleanliness
Quality
Inspections
User surveys
Application of service standards
5 . Mode Split to Non- SOV Modes Percent of total airport users to shared ride services User surveys, as updated with mode specific ridership reports
6 . Role in Air Quality, Congestion Relief Strategies Total VMT from airport ground access
Surrogate calculations for total emissions
Trip length data, by mode
Emissions, by mode
7 . Public Safety Statistically valid patterns
Community concerns
Police records,
Accident statistics
8 . Public Information
Community Acceptance
Adequacy of signage
Public information on modes
Community involvement
Canvas of facilities
Inventory of services available
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK CHAPTER FOUR DATA COLLECTION AND SURVEYS TO BE SUPPLIED IN FY 1996 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK CHAPTER FIVE PATTERNS AND DEMANDS TO BE SUPPLIED IN FY 1996 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK CHAPTER SIX ALTERNATIVES FOR IMPROVING AIRPORT ACCESS Once the nature of the current airport access situation is understood and future conditions have been forecasted and assessed, it is necessary to consider access improvements that will provide the desired existing and future level of service to passengers accessing the airport. Alternative strategies for improving airport access conditions are available. No single type of improvement is appropriate for every airport access situation and airport environment. Alternative approaches should be considered. This could include capital intensive improvements such as a new highway or rail transit link and operational improvements such as improved express bus service. In many cases there is not a single solution, but a combination, that comes closest to meeting the needs of a given airport. The appropriate solution is often defined by community and airport goals, environmental considerations, and fiscal constraints. Alternatives should be carefully evaluated for their effectiveness at a given airport and how well they satisfy the performance goals and evaluation criteria that have been established. This chapter of the guide reviews alternative types of airport access improvements, and specific examples and characteristics where available. Included are improvements related to: o Access Roads o Parking o Terminal Curbside o Rubber-tired and rail transit options o Intermodal facilities, and o Demand management techniques such as travel demand management strategies and the application of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technology. 6.1 ACCESS ROADS The discussion of access roads to airports is stratified into the following topic areas: off-airport, near-airport, and on- airport. Traffic and access road considerations vary, depending on proximity to the airport and the relative size and activity level of the airport. Improve vehicular access to airports can be achieved through physical and operational changes implemented on roads in the region that are far removed from the airport as well as on roads that are in close proximity to the airport, including those that provide direct access to the airport. In addition, improved traffic flow can be achieved from the improvements to circulation roads and other roads that are on airport property. Considerations Related to Access Roads Off Airport Major airports are special trip generators that attract a variety of person trips. Airports attract home-based work trips, home-based non-work trips, non-home based trips, truck trips and a variety of other trip types. From a regional perspective, a highway network should be established that provides safe and efficient access to airports and serves the variety of trips. All routes that serve the major airports and key links in the region's highway network should be included in the regional perspective. Adequate navigational information should be provided to motorists on highway guide signs in advance of and at key route choice decision points. For example, proper signing should be provided on all appropriate interstate highways, other freeways and expressways, and selected principal arterial highways to direct motorists to major airports. Transportation planners can use travel forecasting models to identify the shortest routes from all origin zones to the zone containing an airport. Plots of the paths produced by these regional transportation planning models can be used to identify routes where navigational information to airports should be provided. Click HERE for graphic. Figure 6.1 MUTCD General Information Symbol Sign Guidelines are provided in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on the use of a general informational symbol sign which may be used to identify a route leading to an airport. This sign, which is shown in Figure 6.1, features white letters on a green background. With respect to guide signs that display the name of the airport and direction information, some states have developed and employed application criteria. As cited in a 1980 NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice, both Florida and South Carolina have criteria for providing supplemental signing on freeways for airports, as summarized in Table 6.1-1. As indicated in Table 6.1-1, Florida recommends that signs be placed on facilities within 10 miles of a major metropolitan airport with 40 or more flights per day. The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has developed guidelines for airport roadway signs entitled, Airport Roadway Guide Signs A Proposed Recommended Practice, which offers the following: Generally, there are one or two major feeder roads to an airport. All of the major roads which intersect these feeders within a radius of 10-25 miles from the airport should carry the airport message as an integral part of their highway destination signs, including overhead signs. Table 6.1-1 Guideline Criteria for Airport Signing Florida South Carolina Type of Area Number of Number of Regularly Regularly Scheduled Scheduled Flights Distance Movements Distance from (One-way from (one-way) Airport Departures) Airport per day (in miles) per day (in miles) Major Metropolitan >= 40 <= 10 >= 20 <= 8 Areas Urban Areas >= 30 <= 10 >= 10 <= 8 Rural Areas >= 20 <= 10 >= 10 <= 8 In addition, special logos for specific airports have been developed and integrated into guide signs on freeways. Figure 6.1-2 depicts a sign that shows a specialized airport logo, which is located on Interstate 95 northbound approximately 10 miles from BWI airport. Click HERE for graphic. Figure 6.1-2 Specialized Airport Logo ISTEA called for the development of a National Highway System (NHS) that would, among other things, provide improved access to airports and ports, which are the Nation's link to international commerce. According to the FHWA document entitled, "The National Highway System, The Backbone of America's Intermodal Transportation Network," most major airports have adequate access, but they are expected to face increasing problems with peak period congestion. The NHS will provide resources to improve existing access routes to tomorrow's airports. This will enable plans for airport expansion and the required ground access to be much more closely integrated. The proposed NHS, which was approved by Congress in November, 1995, included roads that served a total of 143 airports. Not to be overlooked when examining the regional context of airports are needs related to emergency vehicle access to and from airports. To ensure adequate emergency medical service response times, the highway segments that constitute the shortest routes between hospitals/major medical centers and the airport along with redundant routes should be identified and considered for improvements. In addition, the shortest routes from existing and planned local fire and rescue stations that support the airport should be identified and reviewed. Potential highway capacity bottlenecks for these vehicles should be identified and mitigated through geometric or operational changes. Geometric Design Alternatives Geometric design alternatives are related to construction and physical changes in a roadway's alignment, cross-section, intersections, or interchanges. Cross-section changes that increase highway capacity include the following: o Widening to provide additional travel lanes, o Construction of medians and median dividers, o Extension of left turn storage lanes, o Construction of additional right and/or left turn lanes at intersections, o Widening paved shoulders, and o Minor geometric improvements implemented at access points and intersections. Alignment changes include: o Straightening sharp horizontal curves o Lengthening short crest and sag vertical curves o Realigning skewed intersections to achieve 90 degree angles o Reducing grade differentials at at-grade intersections. Construction changes implemented at key interchanges and intersections in highway corridors that serve the airport can also improve airport accessability. Detailed information on geometric improvements is included in A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets. Traffic Operations Alternatives There are alternative traffic operations improvements that can be implemented to improve access to airports. In addition to improved highway signing, which was discussed earlier in this section, traffic operations improvement alternatives include: o Improvements in traffic signal operation on arterial roads that lead to airports. These include: - Changes in signal phasing and timing at individual intersections, - Implementation of signal synchronization or "optimized" coordinated signal timings, - Implementation of traffic responsive signal systems, and - the introduction of pro-active preventative traffic signal maintenance programs. o Improvements in traffic surveillance systems, incident detection and response systems, and traffic control systems for freeways. o Implementation of traffic management centers that coordinate incident management. o Implementation of improved traffic information dissemination systems. Considerations Related to Access Roads Near Airports Citing a 1966 NCHRP Report, the Institute of Transportation Engineers' Traffic and Transportation Planning Handbook indicates the following: "Although airports may be among the largest single-site travel generators in major metropolitan areas, they account for only a fraction (usually less than 2 %) of the total travel within those areas, so their measurable traffic impacts are usually limited to those parts of the highway network within a radius of a few miles. The localized impacts on roads providing direct airport access can be quite severe, especially where total airport traffic discharges into an already busy urban expressway as at Chicago's O'Hare or New York's La Guardia and Kennedy Airports." Consequently, far greater attention should be devoted to the examination and improvement of the capacity of roads in the immediate vicinity of airports, especially those that provide direct access to the airport. It should be noted that temporal vehicular traffic distributions vary among airports, depending on the number of flight arrivals and departures, the amount of support and cargo services provided at the airport, the amount of non-airport related employment within the airport property, and seasonal factors. Figure 6.1-3 presents the temporal distribution of total vehicular traffic entering a large international airport. Geometric Design Alternatives All of the improvements discussed for off airport roads apply equally to roads in the immediate vicinity of the airport. Improvements to at-grade intersections, grade-separated interchanges, and ramps that serve existing primary airport access roads can result in travel time savings to motorists bound for the airport. In some cases, burgeoning traffic demands through a critical at-grade intersection may warrant consideration of a grade-separated interchange. Additional discussion on warrants for upgrading to grade-separated interchanges can be found in A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets. Click HERE for graphic. Figure 6.1-3 Temporal Distribution of Total Traffic Entering a Major International Airport. Airport access can be greatly improved by the construction of new roadways, including "dedicated" roadways, that lead directly to the airport and spurs from freeways that are constructed in accordance with interstate design standards. Access highways to large airports should have full control of access with no crossings at grade. Figure 6.1-4 illustrates the proportion of different size airports that are directly served by controlled access facilities. As can be seen in Figure 6.1-4, most airports that serve more than 2.5 million annual originating passengers are served by fully controlled access facilities. Only 20% of the airports with 1 to 2.5 million annual originations are served by fully controlled facilities. Only one of the nineteen airports with less than a million originations draw controlled access. It may be desirable to establish exclusive express lanes such as the Dulles Airport Access Road, that lead directly to the airport within existing highway corridors that service the airport. Furthermore, the highway capacity of primary airport access roads should be sufficient to accommodate the anticipated and projected traffic demands for the specific airport. Click HERE for graphic. Figure 6.1-4 Primary airport roadway access facilities Click HERE for graphic. Figure 6.1-5 Airports With Multiple Access Facilities Some airports provide more than one major access roadway in order to provide sufficient capacity; however, this is usually limited to larger airports as displayed in figure 6.1-5 Traffic Operations Alternatives Improvement alternatives identified for off airport facilities are also applicable to roads in the immediate vicinity of the airport. Additional traffic operational improvements on roads in close proximity to the airport have been implemented to facilitate access to airports. Most notable is the application of Highway Advisory Radio (HAR). As far back as 1977, there were two HAR systems in operation at Houston Intercontinental Airport. The primary information that was broadcast was related to parking conditions. The Los Angeles International Airport has also had an HAR system in operation to assist motorists in direction finding since prior to 1980. Changeable message signs have also been used on roads outside of airport boundaries to present information to drivers about construction and temporary traffic and parking conditions at airports. Additional information on the use of changeable message signs can be found in other references., Considerations Related to On-Airport Roads (Excluding Terminal Curbside Areas) The topic of traffic operations at airport terminal curbsides will be addressed in section 6.3. This section deals with other roads and traffic operations considerations within the airport property. Vehicular traffic entering an airport is composed of different airport users, including the following: Passengers o Local Residents on Business Travel o Local Residents not on Business Travel o Non-local Residents on Business Travel o Non-local Residents not on Business Travel. Spectators, Visitors and Meeter Greeters Employment-related o Airport Employees o Airline Crews o Non-Airport Employees working at locations within the Airport Property o Customers of Airport and Other Services o Non-Airport Employees delivering goods and services It is important to recognize that motorists can be bound for a variety of destinations within the airport property. Many airports include on-airport hotels, retail stores within and outside the terminal, commercial offices and cargo/shipping service centers and terminals. There are also a wide variety of vehicle types that access an airport, including personal vehicles (e.g., automobiles, pick-up trucks, vans, motorcycles), commercial vehicles (e.g., taxicabs, limousines, shared ride vehicles, buses, jitneys, hotel courtesy buses and rental car facilities based off airport), and cargo vehicles (single-unit trucks, tractor-trailers). In addition, there are shuttle buses and other vehicles that operate entirely within the airport property. Airport Circulation Components of airport landside circulation include the following: Airport Roads Terminal curb areas o Curb frontage o Sidewalk platforms o Curbside Baggage Check-in o Terminal entranceways o Pedestrian Crossings and Walkways Public Parking Facilities o Short term areas o Long term areas o Parking area/structures lot entrances and exits o Parking area circulation roads/aisles Public Transportation and Rental Car Areas The layout and types of terminal concepts at an airport determine the integration of the components to form the airport circulation system. Several of the more typical airport circulation configurations are depicted in figure 6.1- 5. and described in table 6.1-2. Click HERE for graphic. Figure 6.1-6 Typical Airport Circulation Systems
Table 6.1-2 Description of Typical Airport Circulation Systems.
Type of Layout Description Means of Expansion Examples
Centralized complex consists of a single building or a contiguous series of buildings. All passenger-related vehicles normally pass through same series of roadways. Public parking and car rental facilities are centrally located. Terminal unit expansion along existing terminal area access road without loss of original ground access system concept. Chicago O'Hare
San Francisco Int'l, Los Angeles Int'l, Atlanta Hartsfield, Washington Nat'l Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood Int'l
Segmented Terminal building divided into originating and departing passengers or grouping of airlines on either side. Originating passengers use one set of terminal frontage roads and terminating passengers the other. Terminal unit extension with retention of the same ground access system. Orlando Int'l,
Jacksonville
Greater Cincinnati
Decentralized Airport access and terminal access roads funnel traffic to and from separate terminal facilities. Parking and car rental facilities are grouped on a terminal unit basis. Addition of terminal units around the terminal access road with separate terminal frontage roads. Kennedy Int'l,
Kansas City Int'l
Unitized Access from centrally located roadway. In some cases, may consist of a series of terminal buildings located in a linear fashion. Addition of terminal units between terminal area access roads. Dallas-Ft. Worth Int'l,
Houston Intercont'l
Airport roads have been classified as follows: o Primary airport access roads. o Terminal area access roads o Recirculation roads o Terminal frontage roads o Service roads: - General-use - Restricted-use Primary airport access roads include those roads that provide primary access to the airport from the regional transportation network. Terminal area access roads serve airport passengers, visitors, and employees and connect primary access roads with terminal buildings, air cargo, parking and service facilities. Recirculation roads provide road sections to link the ingress and egress lanes of the access road. In some cases, there are both terminal area recirculation roads and terminal frontage recirculation roads. Terminal frontage roads distribute vehicles directly to terminal buildings. If more than one terminal building exists, there may be more than one terminal frontage road. General-use service roads are used for the delivery of goods, services, air cargo, and flight kitchen supplies, among others. General-use service roads provide connections between the airport and terminal access roads and the non-passenger related land uses at the airport such as air cargo facilities, concessionaire service facilities, airport maintenance areas, and employee parking areas. Restricted-use service roads are limited to airport maintenance, fire and rescue, fuel, baggage, freight, and aircraft service vehicles. Sections of restricted-use service roads that provide access to aircraft operating and parking areas require control points for security reasons. The typical operating characteristics of airport roadways are described in table 6.3-3.
Table 6.3-3 Characteristics of Airport Roadways.
Characteristic Primary Airport Access Roads Terminal Area Access Roads Recirculation Roads Terminal Frontage Roads Service Roads
Desirable Hourly Lane Capacity
(veh/hr/lane)
Arterials: 700-800
Freeways: 1200-1600
900-1000 600 Inside lane: 0
Outside: 300
Additional thru lanes: 600
600-1200
Average Speeds
(mi/hr)
Arterials: 20- 25
Freeways: 40- 50
20-25 N/A 10-20 15-20
Desirable Demand Volume to Capacity Ratio Arterials: 0.80
Freeways: 0.60
0.60-0.70 N/A N/A N/A
Desirable Minimum Number of Lanes and Lane Width 2 lanes (12 ft) 2 lanes (12 ft) If 1 lane (20 ft)
2 or more lanes (12 ft)
4 lanes: Adjacent to curb (8 ft + 12 ft) Through lanes (12 ft + 12 ft) 2- lane,
2- way
(12 ft)
Principles for Design and Operation of Airport Roads Terminal area access roads should be sufficiently long to permit the smooth channeling of traffic into appropriate lanes for safe access to terminal curbsides, parking lots, and other public facilities. Ample separation should be provided at locations where drivers must make route choice decisions, to avoid driver confusion . Not more than two route choices should be required of a driver at any location. A minimum of four lanes adjacent to the terminal curb is recommended to avoid congestion caused by double parking. Four lanes are also recommended when the terminal arrivals and departures are on the same level. Service-related traffic and passenger-related traffic should be separated. At large airports with centralized airport layouts, originating passenger traffic and departing passenger traffic should also be separated. This can be accomplished through the vertical separation of terminal frontage roads. At airports where several terminal buildings exist, it is desirable to separate traffic for the various passenger terminal buildings, thereby reducing the traffic volumes on individual terminal frontage roads. If only one terminal frontage road exists, then all traffic must pass each terminal building, resulting in greater traffic flows and possible congestion on the terminal frontage road. Traffic circulation in front of the terminal should, normally, be one-way and counter-clockwise for convenience of right-side loading and unloading of vehicles. Adequate transition areas for lane additions and lane reductions should be provided where possible. Taper lengths should conform to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Recirculation of vehicles to the passenger terminal should be permitted. When several terminal buildings exist, it may be advisable to provide more than one terminal road. Traffic streams should be separated at an early stage with appropriate signing to avoid congestion and assure lower traffic volumes on each of the terminal frontage roads. At very large airports it is desirable to provide service road entrances and interchanges either before or shortly after entering the airport in order to relieve congestion on airport terminal access roads. (At low activity airports, the service and primary airport access roads may be concurrent.) The needs of the pedestrian should be considered in the design of pedestrian facilities within the airport. Generally, the pedestrian wishes to take the shortest route to a given destination that still provides an acceptable level of risk. Exposing pedestrians to numerous conflict points should be avoided. When designing for pedestrians an airport planner should: