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

OutlineOutline

• Introduction• Matching System to Operational

Demand• DFW Curbside Allocation Study• LAS Curbside Allocation Study

Our Collective ChallengeOur Collective Challenge

IntroductionIntroduction• 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

Matching System to Matching System to Operational DemandOperational 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

DFW Curbside Allocation DFW Curbside Allocation StudyStudy

A

C

B

E

BackgroundBackground• 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

Technical ApproachTechnical 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

Fully loaded terminals

+4500 O/D pax

Planning Day DemandPlanning Day Demand

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

5500

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Hour of Day

Nu

mb

er o

f O

rig

inat

ing

Pas

sen

ger

s

Quantified Curbside Quantified Curbside DemandDemand

• 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

Terminal C Lower Level LayoutTerminal C Lower Level Layout

The SolutionThe 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

LAS Curbside Allocation StudyLAS Curbside Allocation Study

BackgroundBackground• 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

Technical ApproachTechnical 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

Model ElementsModel Elements

• Virtual operation• Physical configuration• Operational rules

• Realistic demand• 24-hour• Airport-specific behavior

• Model outputs• Animation• Operational performance data

Las Vegas McCarran Int’l Las Vegas McCarran Int’l AirportAirport

TransSolutions, LLC

14600 Trinity Blvd., Suite 200P.O. Box 155486

Fort Worth, TX 76155

Tel: (817) 359-2950

Fax: (817) 359-2959

Company Information:

info@TransSolutions.com

www.transsolutions.com

A Women-Owned Business