Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Guide Purpose The purpose of this planning guide is to provide practical assistance to airport staff and other decisionmakers when planning and developing an offsite terminal and airport transportation link in the United States. The information herein is based on experience gained at airports within the United States and abroad. The goal is to provide guidance on major project elements and issues that are common to most offsite terminal projects. Rules of thumb and courses of action are provided to assist with project development, although some airport environments may require the user to deviate from this guide. Offsite terminals are a relatively new concept in the United States, so new models may evolve. The chapters in this guide are largely discrete, allowing the project sponsor to review infor- mation on topics that are relevant to the program under consideration without reviewing the entire guide. However, the planning concepts in each of the chapters are interrelated, and it is recommended that consideration be given to all of the topics, whether or not the entire guide is used. The chapters are as follows: ⢠Chapter 1: Introduction ⢠Chapter 2: Rationale for an Offsite Terminal ⢠Chapter 3: Market Determination ⢠Chapter 4: Project Definition and Planning ⢠Chapter 5: Costs and Benefits ⢠Chapter 6: Plan of Finance and Financial Feasibility ⢠Chapter 7: Branding, Advertising, and Customer Service ⢠Chapter 8: Implementation Guidelines ⢠Chapter 9: Performance Monitoring Backup materials for the majority of information presented in this guide can be found in the Final Report for ACRP Project 10-02, available at the TRB website (trb.org). Definitions and Assumptions The following definitions are used and assumptions made within this planning guide: ⢠Airport Users, Airport Customers: Airline passengers, airport employees, meeters/greeters, and other persons using airport facilities. ⢠Project Sponsor: In most cases, an offsite terminal and a transportation link will be developed by an airport operator, or the airport operator will have some input into the process. The informa- tion in this planning guide will also be useful for other public entities and, to some degree, to 1 C H A P T E R 1 Introduction
private-sector project proponents. Generally, the motivation for the private-sector to undertake such a project is for profitâthis is usually not the motivation for a public-sector project sponsor. ⢠(Airport) Transportation Link: The most flexible and cost-effective link between the offsite terminal and the airport will be via bus; however, most of the information in the guide is also applicable to a rail link. The link will be for airport users only. ⢠Offsite Terminal: A building, or an exclusive location within a shared-use building, that has some characteristics of an airport terminal but is off-airport. It facilitates the transfer of airport customers between travel modes by providing parking and proximity to intermodal connec- tions where appropriate. Some amenities and services are offered, including a comfortable waiting area in an enclosed climate-controlled environment. There may also be the option to check baggage and to receive boarding passes. The transportation connection between the off- site terminal and the airport is a scheduled bus or rail service operating year-round that is used exclusively for the transport of airport customers. The offsite terminal may be introduced into an airport user market in conjunction with the introduction of a new airport transportation link, or it may be introduced to serve customers where an airport transportation link already exists. An airport transportation link can be successful without an offsite terminal, but an off- site terminal will not be successful without a customer-responsive airport transportation link. 2 Planning for Offsite Airport Terminals
