Improving the environmental performance of airport surface access in the UK: The role of public transport

Abstract

Simultaneously increasing the share of airport surface access journeys that are made by public transport and reducing the environmental effects of airport access/egress trips while accommodating future demand for air and surface access travel are priority areas for the air transport industry and the UK Government. Given the urgent need to reconcile commitments to environmental responsibility with commercial and economic imperatives for growth, this paper analyses the surface access strategies of London's six busiest passenger airports to: identify the current challenges of airport surface access provision, examine opportunities for improvement within existing and future infrastructure and offer recommendations as to how increased public transport provision and patronage could improve the environmental performance of airport surface success in the UK.

Concept of Advanced Personal Rapid Transit at Airports

“…Though parking spots are located farther from the terminal in general, private car use is significant. The private car is the most used as it is perceived as the one offering more comfort, convenience, personal security and reliability [13]. Furthermore, a car is chosen with a higher possibility if travelers use a car in everyday commuting [14].…”

Assessing airport ground access by public transport in Chinese cities

“…For instance, Coogan et al (2008) link airport size with ground access demands, estimating that airports with 45 million and 5 million passengers per annum may generate up lead to as many as 5 million and 500,000 vehicle miles, respectively, of ground access on a daily basis. Most of these trips are by car, and a shift towards public transport is believed to reduce the environmental footprint of the aviation industry (Budd et al, 2016; Ison et al, 2014). Growing traffic between airports and urban areas has become a major urban mobility and environmental issue in North American and European cities, and is increasingly evident in China (Qin, 2009; Zheng, 2010).…”

“…Despite the productive line of research on airport ground access, significant gaps exist in the literature. As mentioned, while existing literature largely draws upon experiences in North American and European contexts (Budd et al, 2016), less is known about access to and public transport at Chinese airports, which entails different relations among planning, management and markets (Wang et al, 2016). Furthermore, many studies are case-based and focus on individual airports.…”

“…For example, 50 new civil airports are planned for the thirteenth Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) (State Council of China, 2017). Nevertheless, developing and sustaining public transport access to airports often entail many planning and management challenges (Budd et al, 2016).…”

An exploratory examination of additional ground access trips generated by airport ‘meeter-greeters’

“…Accommodating current and future demand for air travel will require the sustained provision of safe, efficient, reliable and affordable ground access travel for passengers and other airport users. This can act as a key competitive advantage for airports and their related economies, both in terms of widening the airports' effective catchment area and the wider benefits afforded by improved connectivity to air travel (Budd et al 2015). At major airports with very large (even national) catchment areas the scale of ground access travel can be considerable.…”