Until recently, addressing the environmental externalities associated with the use of the private car and single occupancy vehicles has been the focus of the airport ground access policies worldwide. However, with emerging unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have already changed the way we live, work and travel, encouraging a change in commuter behaviour has become even more important. This has necessitated existing strategies to be reconsidered in favour of adapting to a highly uncertain ‘COVID-19 world’. Historically, there has been a dearth of literature relating to employees and airport ground access even though as a group they represent an important segment of airport users with much more complex access requirements. This paper therefore focuses on airport employee related airport ground access strategies considering an emerging understanding of the future impacts of COVID-19 on global air travel. Pre-COVID strategies have been investigated by conducting a documentary analysis of the most recent “Surface Access Strategies (SAS)” of 27 UK airports. The findings reveal that airport ground access strategies were mainly focused on setting targets and producing policy measures in favour of reducing car use and increasing the use of more sustainable transport modes including public transport, car sharing and active travel (walking-cycling). However, measures encouraging public transport and car sharing will be more difficult to practice due to social distancing and fear of close proximity, thus initiatives encouraging remote-working, active travel and improved staff awareness will be at the forefront of the future ground access strategy development.
Funding
This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AV050 Standing Committee on Airport Terminals and Ground Access.
History
School
Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Source
Transportation Research Board 100th Annual Meeting