Modeling Measures to Improve Intermodal Connectivity at Airports

The motivation to improve intermodal connectivity at airports results from a growing interest in reducing the volume of highway traffic generated by airport access and egress trips and facilitating the ability of airport travelers to use high-occupancy modes. However, there is a lack of standardized analysis tools for evaluating the viability and impact of different strategies to improve intermodal access to airports. This paper describes the development of a modeling framework to analyze alternative measures to improve intermodal connectivity at California airports that has been undertaken as part of a study for the California Department of Transportation. The modeling framework, termed the Intermodal Airport Ground Access Planning Tool, provides users with a structured and standardized way to organize and manage the data necessary to evaluate a large number of alternative potential projects and to analyze the impact of each project on the performance of the airport ground transportation system. A key feature of the analysis approach is the combination of a mode choice model that predicts how airport users will change their access and egress modes in response to changes in the ground transportation system with a formal model of the behavior of the transportation service providers in response to changes in use of the different modes. The focus of the paper is on the data management issues addressed by the modeling framework rather than the technical details of the underlying mode choice and transportation provider behavior models.