SECURING THE AIRFRONT

Airports attract all kinds of traffic.  Yes, there are passengers, companions and workers, many coming be car. There are also taxis, limos, buses and shuttles from nearby hotels, car rental facilities and remote parking.  Unfortunately airports are frequent targets for terrorist attacks, so much attention is given to security matters airside, but also landside.

On an airport’s landside, what is more secure -- an unknown road vehicle with unidentified passengers and content, or a podcar that is video-watched as passengers in a station board it? Most of us would vote for the latter.  Roadway freedoms can bring mortal threats.

New Podcar Potentialities

A recent assessment of the ATN industry by the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University points out that few transport planners and land use officials understand the new, flexible design parameters of this now-proven (in small networks) mode of transit classically known as PRT.  Station location and sizing are fundamentally different from more familiar rail modes, including automated people movers without off-line stations. ATN guideway dimensions are significantly smaller, viable with one-way segments, and capable of sharper turns and higher grades. Station sizes can be minimal, enlarged only where there is demand. All this makes ATN design flexible in the third dimension, generically called “elevation” by architects and engineers, even in sections that are underground.  

An ATN-oriented development strategies waiting to be explored.

Visions of ATN-oriented airfront districts are few and far between.  Airport  districts are growing and attract private investment. Pressures to plan and manage them to be efficient and secure are increasing. ATN traffic will be easier to secure 24/7 than road traffic. With reduced parking needs, the airfront can be more compact, further reducing traffic.

ATN systems can more easily be expanded in the future by means of the flexible addition of guideway segments and stations. To make this bold, new development scenario even more attractive, GHG emissions will be significantly lower.

If Not San Jose, then Stockholm

The MTI report also pointed out that there is a disconnect between airport management, municipal zoning and land use regulation, and the general metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in place across the US. They have too little to do with each other -- to the detriment of land use efficiencies and competitive advantages in a global world. Outside the US, there are examples of better airport-land use coordination. Paris-CDG was one of the early ones to see the potential of commercial development beyond terminal retail on airport property.  Stockholm-Arlanda has interesting examples too.

The US Congress would do well to adjust MPO mandates to be more than passive recipients of FAA dictates. PCC8 at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport is organized with USDOT coordination in the framework of long-term Swedish-USDOT cooperation. The September 3-5 gathering will advance the vision of ATN-served airfront districts laden with many benefits, including a more secure airport.

AIRPORT SMARTS

Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport may be in the lead to de-carbonize its airfront transport with the current study underway with two adjacent municipalities, but it is not alone. Helsinki is not far away, and has a stealth PRT technology developer that took part in an application study in 2005 near Vantaa Airport. It was done by something called TechVilla Institute, a center of expertise for lifting, moving and logistic industries. The setting is a fast-growing airfront district that has already taken off. Called Aviapolis, it has many sleek green buildings filling up with world-oriented businesses.

It's a sellers market in Aviapolis near Helsinki Airport. Will there be buyers for podcar connections?

In fact, a new World Trade Center is underway, and apartments too.  Aviapolis brags that it is the “new heart” of the Helsinki region and, by extension, of most of Finland. It claims a “well functioning transport system” -- meaning mostly uncongested roads, for now. Maybe quality buses or shuttles -- but so far, no podcars.

Vanta-Helsinki Rail, A Year Away

Meanwhile, national and local officials are busy building an 18-kilometer, $1 billion commuter rail extension with 8km tunnel under the airport. The line will continue on to the main north-south line of Finnish railways. Ring Rail, as the project is known, will have five stations, plus three for later development. By next summer, service may be running to stations at the airport terminal and Aviapolis.

What mode split to transit will this bring to Aviapolis and the airport district as a whole? Maybe 25 percent?  If the rail service operates well, especially through harsh Baltic winters, maybe 50%.

What if the reach of the Ring Rail’s future Aviapolis station were extended by integration of an ATN system? This would take transit access to every corner of the district. The mode split would go even more to transit. A half share seems doable. If things go really well, why not 90 percent? How many tons of GHG will that save? If it’s solar, will Vantaa’s ATN be self-sufficient and carbon-free?

There have been studies of airport district ATN applications in the past. Known ones are Seattle-Tacoma, Bologna and more recently, San Jose.

Airport car rental officials have learned the benefits of consolidation.  ATN will take consolidation of airfront development to a whole new level. Next stop: PCC8 at Arlanda Airport, September 3-5, 2014.