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Operations Perspective Challenges to Implementation
Providing passengers the opportunity to check baggage The primary challenges to implementing the bag-check
before parking has the potential to reduce curbside roadway plaza would be the cost and operational difficulties of trans-
congestion associated with passenger drop-off and curbside porting baggage from the plaza to the baggage-processing area.
check-in. Patrons who would typically drop off other members In addition, passengers must be able to tag their own check
of their parties and their baggage at the curbside before baggage. Other challenges, such as the availability of land to
parking could check their baggage at the bag-check plaza construct the facility and the potential impact on parking space
and then proceed directly to parking, thereby reducing the supply, would also need to be considered. The success of such
number of vehicles using the curbside roadway. This process facilities would likely relate to the ability to generate enough
would enable the airport operator to decrease curbside volume to justify the capital and operational costs.
roadway congestion and enforcement without adding phys-
ical capacity. The bag-check plaza would also supplement
the capacity of check-in facilities in the terminal by allow- Supplemental Curbsides
ing passengers to bypass the ticket counter and proceed
The curbside roadway accommodating POV and CV traf-
directly to the SSCP.
fic has historically been adjacent to the terminal building,
The bag-check plaza could also increase the seating capac-
and the manner in which POVs and CVs are separated varies
ity and improve the loading efficiency of shuttle bus services
from airport to airport. Curbsides are typically designed to
from remote lots because passengers have already checked
minimize walking distances by providing passengers prox-
their baggage. These advantages may then lead to a reduction
imity to the terminal building entrance associated with their
in the number of shuttle buses in operation, which would,
airline. However, increased vehicle demand and the passen-
therefore, reduce operational costs and provide environmen-
gers' desire to be dropped off directly in front of the door
tal benefits.
creates a high level of congestion along certain areas of the
A bag-check plaza serving close-in parking lots would need
curbside while leaving other areas underutilized. Moving a
to be constructed in what is likely already a congested area.
portion, or in the case of a new terminal, all of the curbside
Regardless of whether the facility is close-in or remote, the re-
functions into an adjacent parking structure or surface lot
quired footprint may reduce the number of available parking
would allow for the dispersion of vehicle demand along the
spaces if it is constructed on an existing parking lot, which
curbside frontage and would significantly increase curbside
could have a negative impact on parking revenues.
capacity.
Depending on the location of the bag-check plaza, baggage
Supplemental curbsides located near the terminal building
would have to be transported to a baggage-screening area
could be combined with pedestrian bridges to reduce or elim-
either by truck or an automated conveyance system. The cost
inate at-grade lane crossings and to improve pedestrian safety
to convey bags from a remote location to the terminal area
and roadway operations. One arrangement might consist of
would likely be substantial.
a supplemental curbside in the parking structure and another
"traditional" curbside serving an adjacent terminal (see Fig-
ure 4-9: "Terminal and Garage"). This arrangement would be
Simulation Analysis
more appropriate for an existing terminal layout where
To estimate the required size of a bag-check plaza, a com- certain transportation modes are moved from the existing
puter simulation analysis was conducted at a medium-hub curbside to the parking structure. For example, departing
airport with a high percentage (77%) of POVs. The four- passengers could be dropped off in the parking structure and
airline terminal at the selected airport accommodates approx- cross an elevated pedestrian bridge directly into the ticketing
imately 1,200 peak hour enplaned passengers. Assuming that hall without having to cross any lanes of traffic. Another
60% of the passengers with check baggage use the bag-check alternative might relocate all curbside functions inside a
plaza, a total of 12 self-service positions would be required to parking structure (see Figure 4-9: "Garage Only"). Because
accommodate demand. If 40% of the passengers with check it is unlikely that existing roadway infrastructure adjacent to
baggage use the bag-check plaza, eight self-service positions the terminal building would be abandoned, this layout
would be required. In addition, an average of four or five spaces would best be designed as part of the construction of a new
per check-in position should be provided for vehicle staging terminal. Transportation modes could be assigned to sepa-
(i.e., parked or in queue). Inside the terminal departures hall, rate levels of the parking structure and could provide direct
the maximum passenger queues would be reduced by 50% access to and from the terminal building. A courtyard or
or more. Detailed results of this analysis are included in the other "outdoor space" could then be provided between the
appendix. parking structure and the terminal building, similar to the
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shuttles, rental car shuttles, and taxicabs. An elevated bridge
over the terminal curbside roadway provides a grade-separated
pedestrian path between the terminal building and the sup-
plemental curbside.
Terminal 2 at Munich Airport has supplemental curbsides
(see Figure 2-2) in the form of forecourts on each side of the
terminal building, with POVs on one side of the terminal and
CVs on the other. Each forecourt has two levels: the upper
level for departures and the lower level for arrivals.
Assumptions/Prerequisites
A supplemental curbside could be implemented either
as part of an existing parking structure modified to provide
a traditional curbside or as part of a new terminal facility.
In either scenario, to the extent possible, it is desirable to plan
a curbside within an adjacent parking structure to provide
Figure 4-9. Supplemental curbsides. vertical separation to reduce vehicle and pedestrian conflicts
and to reduce walking distances and the number of traffic
lanes that passengers must cross to enter the terminal. Similar
arrangement developed for the recently opened Terminal 5 to the San Diego International Airport arrangement, those
at London's Heathrow Airport. airports without an adjacent parking structure could provide
a supplemental curbside in an adjacent surface lot.
Key Drivers
The implementation of supplemental curbsides would be Evaluation
driven by the need for additional curbside frontage capacity
Passenger Perspective
and curbside roadway throughput capacity, as well a desire
to improve pedestrian safety by reducing the number of A conventional curbside consisting of multiple islands re-
traffic lanes that passengers must cross to access the terminal quires passengers to cross multiple lanes of traffic. Providing
(as opposed to providing additional curbside islands accessed a supplemental curbside in a parking structure allows pas-
via crosswalks). sengers to cross from the structure to the terminal via a grade-
separated walkway. Reducing the number of traffic lanes that
must be crossed to access the terminal provides passengers
Examples
with a sense of improved safety and convenience.
Opened in March 2008, Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow The primary disadvantage of the supplemental curbside
Airport is the most recent example of a new terminal designed is that it could result in longer passenger walking distances.
with both POV and CV curbsides located within an adjacent Passengers accustomed to being dropped off directly adjacent
parking structure (see Figure 2-1). This "remote curb" ter- to the terminal would be required to walk from the parking
minal accommodates departures and arrivals (POV and CV) structure to the terminal. The walking distances could, how-
on the upper level or roof of the parking structure and has a ever, be mitigated by providing moving walkways.
bus and coach station on the lower level. Departing passen-
gers cross an elevated pedestrian bridge from the upper level
Operations Perspective
directly into the departures hall while arriving passengers
cross the landscaped plaza from baggage claim to the elevator Increasing capacity for curbside operations reduces traffic
banks on the lower level that access the parking levels and the congestion, thereby improving traffic operations and safety.
arrivals curb. This separation of traffic minimizes the number A supplemental curbside would also allow airport operators
of traffic lanes that pedestrians must cross. to separate POV and CV traffic. At airports where both POVs
At San Diego International Airport, Terminals 1 and 2 and CVs drop off passengers on the departures level, the
each have a supplemental curbside located on a portion of the ability to move one or the other to the supplemental curbside
surface parking lot adjacent to the terminal. The curbside would be provided, thereby increasing the curbside capacity
accommodates commercial vehicles such as hotel/motel for both mode types.
