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7 AIRPORT COMMERCIAL GROUND TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS SURVEY OF LAW: OVERVIEW AND METHODOLOGY By Lew R. C. Bricker and Gerald P. Cleary, Attorneys, SmithAmundsen LLC, Chicago, Illinois This survey of airport commercial ground transportation laws and regulations is intended to provide a listing of federal, state, and local commercial ground transportation rules with extensive examples of each. To that effect, this report examines the commercial ground transportation regulatory schemes at each of the nationâs busiest airports. This overview provides an explanation of each projectâs scope, the research methodology, and the report structure. Scope The report of airport commercial ground transportation laws and regulations is not intended to be either a comprehensive review of all statutes and regulations that could potentially affect commercial ground transporters operating at an airport, nor a study of every ground transportation regulation at all U.S. airports. This project is a survey of the regulatory schemes at the nationâs busiest airports. The following materials include a more detailed review of the regulatory scheme at the 67 busiest and most-regulated U.S. airports. As of February 2008, there were over 5,000 public airports in the United States, of which over 500 maintained regularly scheduled commercial airplane service. Quite naturally, the level of regulation varies tremendously. Large hub airports like Chicago OâHare (ORD) and Los Angeles International (LAX) have entire departments dedicated to ground transportation, while small airports like Anaktuvuk Pass (AK) or Adirondack Regional (NY) have essentially no commercial ground transportation rules. This report includes all airports designated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as large- or medium-sized hubs. An airport qualifies as a âLargeâ or âMediumâ hub if it is responsible for respectively either more than 1 percent or 0.25 percent to 1 percent of total U.S. passenger enplanements (for a full listing of U.S. commercial airports and their yearly enplanements, see Appendix A). This point of demarcation and method were chosen for several reasons. First, as the breadth of commercial ground transportation is directly related to the number of passengers using an airport, it is logical to base the survey scope upon the number of enplanements. This survey, then, addresses where the bulk of the commercial ground transportation is located. Second, the FAAâs delineation between medium- and small-sized hubs conveniently and intuitively matches up with the point where decreasing passenger loads reduce the need for a more extensively regulated ground transportation system. There are exceptions to every rule, and there are some small hubs with rather thorough regulatory systems, but the majority have either a simple set of regulations or no real ground transportation policies. By focusing the surveyâs attention upon the large and medium hub airports, this survey is kept to a reasonable size while still providing a high-level reference guide. Research Methodology This survey was researched in several stages. Initially, a general survey of the statutory and readily available data regarding ground transportation regulations was coordinated. Unsurprisingly, little was found in a cohesively presented format. Thereafter, airport managers, academics, and transportation specialists were interviewed; several representative airports were thoroughly researched; and academic literature was reviewed. Using this information, a research methodology was developed based on the three sources of ground transportation regulation: federal, state, and local government laws and regulations.
8 At both the federal and state level, there are several statutes that directly or indirectly affect commercial ground transporters. As this project is intended for use by airport managers, administrators, researchers, legislative analysts, and aviation attorneys, the applicable statutes have been summarized in a manner that outlines the breadth and purpose of the statutes. Summaries of important court decisions have been included when they provide useful guidance. In addition, agency regulations have been summarized and included whenever appropriate. When rules directly affect commercial ground transportation operations at a specific airport, they have been included. Federal and state agencies develop both regulations and operating policies to regulate commercial ground transportation. This information was taken from official government documents (codes, common law case reporters, and agency rulings) and supplemented with the most current opinions and policies created by the agencies. At the local level, commercial ground transportation is directly governed by the government agency controlling the airport. As many airport transportation policies are constantly in flux, the research was focused upon official airport rules, government policies, and other permanent sources of regulations. Each airport or controlling authority was contacted by the researchers directly. All disclosed and discussed statutes and regulations directly affecting commercial ground transportation arriving at or departing from the airport premises were reviewed, and any important information was summarized in the survey. Structure This survey has been organized in several different sections: (1) airport reports, (2) state reports, (3) federal summaries, and (4) survey information. Airport Reports The bulk of the survey is a compilation of reports summarizing the different commercial ground transportation rules applicable at each of the qualifying airports. These Airport Reports will contain the local, state, and federal commercial ground transportation rules specific to the airport. When practical, current contact information has been included. Several qualifying airports are operated jointly or under a special arrangement with a common authority. When practical and appropriate, two or more airports are combined into a single report. State Reports Immediately preceding the Airport Reports for a given state, there is a report summarizing any statewide statutes or rules of interest to commercial ground transporters. This section is not a comprehensive review of any stateâs transportation laws and regulatory schemes, and commercial ground transporters should contact the appropriate state agencies before conducting any commercial activities. Rather, a state report highlights important state regulations governing commercial ground transportation, and provides summaries when appropriate. Federal Summaries Federal statutes and agency rules have been grouped into separate reports summarizing their roles in governing commercial ground transportation. In addition, any federal rules specific to an individual airport have been included in the appropriate Airport Report.
