Best Practices in Airport Ground Transportation—Accent on the Positive

1. Best Practices in Airport Ground Transportation—Accent on the Positive Two Curbside Allocation Case Studies Presented to Airport Ground Transportation Association September 11, 2007 By Gloria Bender

2. Outline • Introduction • Matching System to Operational Demand • DFW Curbside Allocation Study • LAS Curbside Allocation Study

3. Our Collective Challenge

4. Introduction • Getting from airport entrance to terminal entrance is frequently one of the most confusing segments of an airport passenger’s travel • Airport access/egress has become one of the most constrained elements of airport capacity • Critical that we allocate limited curbside roadway space efficiently to support the operational requirements that must be transacted there

5. Matching System to Operational Demand • Document/quantify system elements • Roadway and curbside configuration • Information system capabilities to enhance capacity • Airport business agreements • Document/quantify operational demand • Ground transportation service providers’ operations requirements • Passenger demand • Identify and remedy gaps

6. B A C E DFW Curbside Allocation Study

7. Background • Significant upper level roadway congestion • Passenger drop-off on upper level due to limited use of lower level • Second lane drop-off lengthens delay of both passengers and drivers • Curbside capacity available on lower level curb • Long delays and queues affect all modes • Private auto delays in excess of 7.3 minutes • Taxi delays in excess of 3.6 minutes

8. Technical Approach • Evaluate size and location of curbside drop off areas relative to demand • Achieve airport operational objectives • Quantify demand by mode • Use math model to evaluate curbside assignments based on • Vehicle queues • Vehicle delays • Passenger walk distance

9. Planning Day Demand • Fully loaded terminals • +4500 O/D pax

10. Quantified Curbside Demand • Planning day schedule to identify O/D passengers • Transportation mode splits to develop estimates of trip by ground transportation mode • Validated with traffic counts • Quantified active load/unload times • Macro simulation technique to quantify vehicle queues and delays • Compared various curbside allocations

11. Terminal C Lower Level Layout

12. The Solution • Allow taxis/limos drop-off upper level if requested • Taxis/limos pick-up at lower level • Supports significantly expanded taxi pick-up areas • Reduces delays for all modes • Private autos from 7.3 to 0.7 minutes • Taxis from 3.6 to 0.3 minutes • Reduced queues and second-lane drop-offs • Passenger walk distance remains the same • Adequate existing elevator/escalator capacity

13. LAS Curbside Allocation Study

14. Background • Significant roadway congestion today and no additional capacity until Terminal 3 commissioned • Taxi demand exceeds available capacity significantly during peak hour • Under-utilized areas at north side of baggage claim building, C-Bus Plaza and on the zero level • Objective: Identify any additional incremental changes to increase capacity

15. Technical Approach • Develop simulation model to evaluate capacity benefit of • ConRAC • Reduced crosswalks • Two lanes at roadway exit • Move decision point for 2-curbside roadways • Creation of new taxi dispatch operation on north side of baggage claim building • Reallocation of C-Bus Plaza to WN pax taxi drop-off

16. Model Elements • Virtual operation • Physical configuration • Operational rules • Realistic demand • 24-hour • Airport-specific behavior • Model outputs • Animation • Operational performance data

17. Las Vegas McCarran Int’l Airport

18. TransSolutions, LLC 14600 Trinity Blvd., Suite 200P.O. Box 155486Fort Worth, TX 76155 Tel: (817) 359-2950 Fax: (817) 359-2959 Company Information: info@TransSolutions.com www.transsolutions.com A Women-Owned Business