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64 Ground Access to Major Airports by Public Transportation possibility of a baggage check-in station. New train equipment would be purchased that could accommodate both the air travelers and their baggage. A 2006 consultant report examined a less costly proposal, in which a dedicated service would be provided, but the investment in the bypass tracks postponed (10). This service would run "closed door" on the existing rails, in effect waiting as the preceding train stopped at each station but not serving those stations itself. This concept was developed in the original "Train to the Plane" service operated to JFK in New York for several years. Over time, bypass tracks could be added incrementally to allow the dedicated train to overtake local trains at key locations. Oper- ational details for the new Chicago dedicated service will be developed over time. New York JFK Airport The concept of a new dedicated rail service for air travelers between the general site of the World Trade Center and JFK airport was proposed in the aftermath of the September 11 attack on Lower Manhattan. For this project, a major engineering study recommended the creation of an entirely new tunnel between Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, whether for commuter rail service to a new terminal or for extension of rapid transit north into Manhattan. In either case, a new air traveler terminal with full airline baggage check-in was proposed near the World Trade Center site. In the proposed concept, a hybrid form of the existing JFK AirTrain people mover would operate counter-clockwise around the existing air terminal loop and proceed to Jamaica Station. There the vehicle would switch from the existing linear induction propulsion system to a third-rail propulsion system. The vehicle would then reverse direction, traveling from the Jamaica Station to a new connection to the existing Long Island Railroad (LIRR) Atlantic Branch elevated system to a point in downtown Brooklyn. In the preferred plan a new tunnel would be built from there to the World Trade Center site. In an alternative, the new ser- vice would be connected to the existing Montague rapid transit tunnel, allowing stops at Broad Street, Fulton Street Transit Center, and Chambers Street, according to the project press release of May 5, 2004. Since the conclusion of that 2004 feasibility study, the prime proponent of the project, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, has ceased operations. A planning study has since been undertaken that "will evaluate all reasonable rail and non-rail alternatives which potentially address the project's goal and objectives" (11). The project created a list of 47 options for study. No funding commitment has been made to the project, which is being reviewed by the new Governor of New York, particularly in the context of competing trans- portation proposals. Summing It Up This chapter has reviewed a series of attributes associated with successful airport ground access systems. It has established that no single attribute or characteristic can be used alone to predict the level of market share attained by public transportation services to airports. Rather, the total travel time--which includes the efficiency of the connection on the airport, the speed of the vehi- cle to the terminal, the quality of distribution services experienced after the line-haul trip, and the provision of services meeting the unique needs of the air traveler--all interact in determin- ing the marketability of the trip. No mode emerges as perfectly matched to all trips. The experience of fast express time can be marred by the lack of a taxi at the arrival terminal. The experience of a van trip operating directly to a hotel can be damaged by long in-vehicle times serving the needs of three or four other pas- sengers and by long waits to assemble the trip at the airport curb.