Estimating Truck Trip Generation for Airport Air Cargo Activity (2017)

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.

3 PurPose of study Truck trip generation associated with air cargo facilities and activities remains an under-explored topic in the traffic engineering and transportation planning arena. The ITE Trip Generation Manual— considered the primary source of trip generation rates—provides plots and equations for dozens of finely differentiated land use types; however, this source has yet to distinguish “air cargo” from the more general categories of “commercial airport” and “truck terminal.” Similarly, beyond a hand- ful of highly localized efforts to forecast air cargo-truck movements (e.g., the Southern California Association of Governments Regional Airport Demand Allocation Model), little empirical research exists on the volume and nature of truck trips associated with existing and new air cargo facilities, either airside or landside. The complexities associated with the modern air cargo industry make it difficult to obtain and understand the data necessary to develop air cargo facility truck trip generation rates. It is precisely this complexity and dynamism, however, that makes it important for airport planners, traffic engi- neers, and local officials to have access to reliable and useful truck trip information. Having access to such information will help a community plan and invest adequately and appropriately by accounting for the impacts of air cargo facilities and activities. In addition, because air cargo typically handles high-value/time-sensitive shipments, the air cargo operator and airport management have similar concerns related to ensuring cargo facility truck access and egress remains efficient, reliable and safe. The purpose of this study is to gather information from experience to develop methods and tools to support the planning and development of roadway infrastructure at a range of airport sizes and types of cargo facilities. The audience for this synthesis study is airport, environmental and regional transportation planners. scoPe and Methodology The scope of this synthesis included existing research and practices directly related to identification and/or application of truck trip generation rates associated with on-airport air cargo facilities. Parties in this scope include air cargo facility research and planning experts, airport air cargo and planning officials, air cargo express company officials, and selected relevant planning entities. The methodology for this synthesis included a literature review, interviews with experts and industry officials, in-depth case examples of selected airports, and the distilling and synthesizing of the information collected into findings and suggestions. Beginning with the literature list provided in the original project request for proposals (RFP), a web-based scan for relevant research and practices in air cargo facility-related truck trip generation was conducted. In addition, relevant past research was identified through internal expertise and experience as well as through expert interviews conducted as part of this project. The results of the literature review were synthesized and have been integrated into this report. A series of structured interviews was also conducted with three main groups: air cargo facility planning experts; airport planning and air cargo officials; and air cargo express company officials. To help ensure comparable information was collected across the different interviews, a structured interview chapter one Background

4 guide was developed for each group of interviews and employed in each interview (see Appendix A). In addition, documentation and data, as appropriate and available, were obtained from several of the airports interviewed. The organizations and officials interviewed across the three groups were identified based on input and guidance from the ACRP program officer and the Synthesis Project Panel, as well as from exist- ing knowledge and experience. In addition, some of the interviews led to identification of interview targets that were not on the original list. Based on the results of the literature review, interviews and review of additional airport documents and data, three airports were identified for more in-depth review as case examples: • Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport (ATL) • Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) • Memphis International Airport (MEM). The detailed results of the case examples are summarized in chapter five. Using the aforementioned material, collected information, and analyses, a synthesis of issues and considerations in estimating air cargo-related truck trip generation was developed. This includes the state of the practice, current and future needs and gaps, and research needs.