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I-95 Corridor Coalition
AIRPORT OUTREACH
AND INTERMODAL
COORDINATION
Final Report
August 2003

AIRPORT OUTREACH AND
INTERMODAL COORDINATION
Final Report
Prepared for:
I-95 Corridor Coalition
Sponsored by:
I-95 Corridor Coalition
Prepared by:
Christine Cox, Noel Consulting, LLC
Matthew Coogan
August 2003
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FINAL REPORT- August, 2003
I-95 CORRIDOR COALITION
INTERMODAL PROGRAM TRACK
Airport Outreach and Intermodal Coordination
Project Objective
The overall project objective was to facilitate the participation of the airports in the Intermodal
Program Track and develop ideas to improve intermodal connections at airports for both people
and cargo. Other objectives are to:
• build partnerships with aviation administrations/authorities, airports, and ground access
providers;
• identify intermodal issues, ITS needs, and solutions;
• coordinate the implementation of intermodal freight and passenger initiatives; and
• begin to develop a program and identify projects to improve access to airports for people and
cargo.
Task 1: Outreach Activities
Objective. Engage the interest and participation of airport industry stakeholders in achieving the
I-95 Corridor Coalition’s goals.
Completed:
• Established an internal working group of volunteers interested in building an airport program as
part of the Coalition’s Intermodal Program. (Membership turnover and lack of consistent
response to requests for participation was an issue. A core group of Coalition members who
would be advocates for airport issues is needed, however.)
• Reviewed existing Coalition written material for its usefulness in initial airport outreach activities
and recommended changes or additions to reflect intermodal activities that include airports,
both in text and pictures.
• Convened meetings of select stakeholders to gauge their interest in Coalition participation and
to brainstorm project ideas and ways for a Coalition intermodal program to add value to airport
operations. (A brief contact report on each meeting is appended to this summary.) Meetings
included Airports International Council, airport management at BWI Airport, airport
management at T.F. Greene (Providence, RI), and airport management at Raleigh-Durham
Airport. Telephone outreach included staff at Airports International Council, staff at JFK Air
Cargo Association, and consultant staff at Edwards & Kelcey interested in airport issues.
Follow up contacts were also made with BWI Airport staff and RIDOT planning staff.
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Task 2: Development of Project Proposals
Objective. Develop project proposals that can be sponsored and implemented by the participating
Coalition members.
Completed: General project ideas were incorporated in the White Paper prepared for the
Intermodal Forum. Key points are excerpted below under Task 3. A specific project idea was
prepared for developing an airport ground access module integrating airport information into the
Intermodal Passenger Travel Information System. That project idea was considered in the Year 11
program development process, and was moved forward by the Intermodal Program Track
Committee first as a functional requirements definition project that could later become a specific
deployment using a Coalition airport.
Task 3: Provide input to the Intermodal Leadership Forum
Objective. Prepare input material for the Intermodal Leadership Forum about the role of airport
participation in achieving the Coalition’s goals.
Completed: Through the information learned from the stakeholder outreach and from
independent reading and research, a white paper was written as part of the input to the Intermodal
Leadership Forum held in Arlington, Virginia in April, 2003. That paper is on the Coalition Web site,
and is attached here.
--- The following is excerpted from the white paper ---
Future Activities and Recommended Coalition Role
What has the Coalition learned and what’s next? Small steps have been taken to bring the air
mode into the intermodal equation of the Coalition and to begin to nurture a relationship with the
aviation community as part of the I-95 Corridor Coalition’s intermodal program.
Next steps for an airport focus in the Coalition program should be considered based not only upon
learning from what has been done, but also from stepping back to assess what is needed, but is
not likely to be undertaken by a single agency. And in the analysis, are there other intermodal
activities underway by the Coalition not involving airports that could and should expand to the
aviation community, building from work already accomplished?
Three areas for a Coalition role are:
• Operations coordination
• Integration of air travel into trip itinerary planning and travel information systems
• System capacity and utilization
Operations Coordination. The Coalition provides organizational and technical support to foster
learning and information sharing among Coalition member organizations and with others.
Analyzing alternative approaches and sharing lessons learned is a natural near-term role for the
Coalition. The Coalition also helps develop and manage information systems that assist agencies
in system management and operation. That role has some longer term potential for the Coalition
as airport management and intermodal connections to air travel are further integrated. Some ideas
for future initiatives:
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• The Coalition could provide a “roll up the sleeves and talk” forum for sharing experiences
and lessons learned from those agencies that have already done significant intermodal
access planning and operations. Discussions could include tips for developing and
maintaining institutional relationships for planning and operating intermodal connections;
planning for pre-trip and en route passenger information throughout the modal shifts;
marketing to attract new customers; ground access information systems; electronic
payment systems; baggage-friendly facilities, etc. The goal would be to bring the right
people together with minimum structure and maximum round-table talk time.
• The Coalition could support the networking and exchange of information among staff
directly involved in planning and implementing intermodal facilities at airports. Identify the
right people at agencies, what their role is and give them resources and support to mentor
each other.
• The Coalition could share results and lessons learned from the architecture development
process and standards analysis to be completed for the passenger information systems
serving NJTRANSIT and the Newark Liberty International Airport Rail Station. This could
be very useful for other locations where multiple rail services will be linked.
• The Coalition could demonstrate the feasibility and benefit of sharing real-time information
about travel conditions on highways or transit with airport ground access operators, for
benefit of the passenger who is renting a car, catching a train or for the operator of a
bus/limo/taxi or shuttle.
• The Coalition could support operations improvements to link transit schedules and
operations more closely across multiple providers at the same location to facilitate the
passengers’ choices and connections as they travel to or from an airport connection.
• The Coalition could support activities, through both its Intermodal and Electronic Payment
Services programs, to further the expansion of fare coordination and integration across air,
transit, and rail modes.
Trip Itinerary Planning and Travel Information Systems. The Coalition helps develop and improve
passenger information systems to include intermodal trip planning and long-distance travel
information. Information improvements that include intermodal access availability to airports will
enable travelers to make more informed travel choices.
Both through the Newark AirTrain project and discussions with airport operators, project
participants have identified a lack of information across geographic, institutional and jurisdictional
lines as a major problem in providing the passenger with ground access information needed to
make trip decisions within a multi-state region. Customer Service Representatives who have been
assisting passengers for 16 months at the Newark Liberty International Airport Rail Station are
asked for assistance daily by passengers who are making train decisions to destinations in New
York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. There is no integrated resource available to
them, nor is there such a resource available to the passenger as he/she plans the trip.
The Coalition is currently participating in the development of intermodal passenger travel
information systems. No one agency is going to integrate airport access information into a larger
regional system. The Coalition is in a position to build upon work already underway and produce
a unique tool for passengers and for agencies to use to assist passengers. A specific idea has
emerged for consideration in the Coalition’s program development process:
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• Develop a prototype multi-region airport access module for an Intermodal Passenger Travel
Information System.
In addition, providing real time information about travel conditions on highways, transit, and other
travel modes will also benefit the passengers who want to catch a train, bus, limo, taxi, or shuttle or
rent a car. Another recommended future initiative for the Coalition is:
• Explore ways to integrate and pass on real time information to the intermodal passenger.
System Capacity and Utilization. Future directions could include: (points in italics were added
since completion of white paper)
• The Coalition could examine in greater depth the needs and issues of the “non-hub”
airports in the Coalition region, and how intermodal solutions to passenger access might be
improved. NCDOT suggested that several states that are dealing with the issue of barely
surviving small commercial airports could develop consensus positions that would assist
the state in dealing with local communities where these airports are located
• Since the Intermodal Leadership Forum, a visit to the Raleigh-Durham Airport resulted in
further input to project ideas. The idea of a small forum that would bring together airport
operators to interact about “airports as intermodal hubs” was suggested. The focus would
have to be practical, with sufficient draw to bring participants to share, and then to go back
“home” with something valuable that is applicable at their own location. This forum would
include both passenger and cargo issues.
• The Coalition could conduct a study of the impact on passenger access to a mid-size
airport when a discount carrier (e.g. Southwest or Jet Blue) began services that shifted
passengers away from a major airport. Lessons learned would be for the benefit of other
airports, transportation departments, and transit operators that could be affected by a
similar shift.
Many of the lessons learned by the partner agencies in the Newark AirTrain project will be
invaluable to JFK Airport, to BWI Airport, and to the Rhode Island Airport Corporation as they
deploy their intermodal centers that bring trains, rental cars, vans, buses and people-movers
together for passengers to access their airport. Decisions that can affect future interoperability and
exchange of information are often made a year or more before opening of a major capital
construction. Some possible areas to explore further for future Coalition projects:
• Assist with the operational deployment at the new Warwick Station or at BWI Airport,
narrowing the focus to specific areas that meet the agencies’ needs, for example:
– developing the system architecture for passenger information, or
– developing, implementing and practicing procedures for interagency operational
communication during emergencies or delays, or
– assisting with the design, placement and integration of dynamic and static passenger
information displays throughout the passenger flow in the modal shifts, or
– facilitating interagency planning
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Summary and Conclusions
Opportunities and challenges exist for the Coalition to work with members of the aviation
community in the Coalition regions to integrate the needs of the airport operators with the
programs of the Coalition.
Based upon the use of air travel within the Corridor for long distance passenger trips, the increase
in intermodal access to airports, the multi-state nature of the passenger market for the major
airports, and the opportunity to build upon strengths of the Coalition’s current program, the
following are recommendations to consider in determining future program direction:
• Continue to build the relationships with airport managers and determine their needs, looking for
opportunities for the Coalition to assist by leveraging resources, or adding value to multiagency
efforts. Participation from airport managers in the core committee structure does not
seem likely.
• Assess opportunities to include airport and air travel issues in ongoing and future projects
focusing on exchange of real time operational information, operations coordination (including
fare and ticket integration), or system capacity and utilization.
• Begin specific efforts to integrate airport access information into the Intermodal Passenger
Information System.
Final Observations and Next Step:
Airport managers are slowly moving away from purely an airport-centric view, into more of a
transportation system perspective. This change is more of a pragmatic adaptation than a visionary
approach. Multi-modal access for passengers and cargo has become part of planning for future
survival, competitiveness and growth. Although airport security is an issue, airport viability (airline
viability) is more overriding, and airport access is a vital part of that viability.
Airport passenger access issues and freight handling/air cargo issues have very different
stakeholders and constituencies, although both are part of the whole transportation system. At a
project level, the two areas of cargo and passenger will generate very different ideas.
Airport managers are busy, focused people who want a return of value for investment of their time.
Participation in the I-95 Corridor Coalition’s committee structure, purely as an organization with
admirable intermodal goals, is not likely. Participation in a specific project or information-sharing
forum that brings direct benefit back to the organization on an issue or topic, or assists with a
deployment or development of policy would draw interest.
With the expansion of the Coalition’s membership geography to the full East Coast, continued
outreach to more airports (especially the mid-sized and those about to undertake intermodal
connections) is important for the intermodal agenda. The opportunity to add value will take shape
through those discussions.
Next Step: Organize and sponsor a forum about intermodal access at airports in the Corridor,
showcasing some of the experiences that are in different phases of planning and deployment (JFK,
BWI, Raleigh-Durham, for example.) Use the forum to “test the waters” for interest in some of the
project directions mentioned above, such as operational coordination and traveler information.
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Airport Outreach Visit
Location: Washington, D.C. Date: August 27, 2003
Participants:
Name Title/Agency info
Stephen Van Beek
Senior Vice President,
svanbeek@aci-na.org
Policy and Strategic
Development, Airports Council
International
Chris Cox
I-95 Corridor Coalition
Matthew Coogan
I-95 Corridor Coalition
Highlights of Discussion:
Coogan posed several questions. First, is the timing good or bad to be reaching out to Airports
about ground access and the I-95 Corridor Coalition’s intermodal program. Although ground
access may not be the top priority of a specific airport, Steve indicated that capacity is always a
concern; and environment and ground access are policy issues that he makes sure are on their
policy plates.
The ACI uses a committee system around policy issues, and Steve said that ACI could give policy
“imprimatur” to the Coalition’s intermodal outreach. We asked if ACI would consider co-sponsoring
an event that would bring some people together around these issues, and he was receptive to that
idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
Airport Outreach Visit
Location: BWI Airport Date: August 28, 2002
Participants:
Name Title/Agency info
Paul Wiedefeld
Executive Director,
Maryland Aviation
Administration
Holly Collins
Special Assistant to E.D,
MAA
pwiedefeld@mdot.state.md.us
410-859-7060
Hcollins1@bwiairport.com
410-859-7534
Lynn Bezilla,
Simone C. Hall
Chris Cox
Matthew Coogan
Director, Office of Facilities
Planning,
MAA
Manager of Terminal
Planning & Intermodal
Development, MAA
I-95 Corridor Coalition
I-95 Corridor Coalition
LBezilla@mdot.state.md.us
410-859-7227
Shall4@bwiairport.com
410-859-7227
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Highlights of Discussion:
The group discussed the evolution of Maryland’s focus on an expanded intermodal connection at
BWI, including the consideration of remote baggage checking at Union Station DC.
The Executive Director acknowledged that although security is a key issue, it is not so overriding
that airport access and intermodal opportunities have to take a back seat. A conceptual plan for a
Regional Intermodal Transportation Center is underway, and a feasibility study for a peoplemover
was completed.
The Director also expressed willingness to co-sponsor (and host) a forum with the Coalition that
would bring together airport managers to focus on intermodal passenger connection issues.
There was willingness to participate with the Coalition on specific issues or events that would have
value to BWI.
__________________________________________________________________________
Airport Outreach Visit
Location: T.F. Green Airport (PVD), Warwick, RI Date: January 16, 2003
Participants:
Name Title/Agency info
Mary Soderstrum
Deputy Executive Director,
Engineering and Planning,
Rhode Island Airport
Corporation
Paul Silva
Chris Cox
Matthew Coogan
Principal Planner, State of
Rhode Island
Department of
Transportation, Intermodal
Planning
I-95 Corridor Coalition
I-95 Corridor Coalition
MSoderstrum@pvdairport.com
401-737-4000
psilva@dot.state.ri.us
401-222-4203, ext. 4231
(retiring in 2003)
Others contacted in the process of setting up the meeting: Chuck Alves at RIDOT and Steve
Devine at RIDOT. Chuck had been promoted to the Secretary’s Office, so Steve followed up the
contact. Paul Silva was assigned to attend the meeting, and he brought details about the status of
the intermodal station with him.
Highlights of Discussion with Airport Director:
At the time of the Administration change in early 2003, a new Warwick train station was planned for
construction as an Amtrak stop, and as a stop for MBTA extension from Massachusetts down to
Providence and South Kingston. The station will be ¼ mile from the airport.
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If fully developed as planned, the intermodal station would consist of a parking garage/rental car
mall; a train station & platforms; and an automated people mover linking rail passengers, rental car
users and parking users to/from the airport.
The future of the full intermodal station was on hold at the time of the meeting. If the station
proceeds as planned, Mary Soderstrum expressed interest in learning more specifically from the
experience at Newark in the deployment of the AirTrain to link passengers to/from the airport and
the new train station.
When asked what she needed to help in the development of this intermodal link, she responded
that it is difficult to know what percentage of airport traffic would come by rail, and others
experiences with that from other Coalition members would be helpful to know about.
There was no discussion of cargo activities.
Other comments: It may prove useful to contact Vince Scarano at FAA, who is coordinating a New
England regional airport plan. Other contact ideas: Consultant Brian Racoff at Lewis Berger
who is working on the regional airport plan. The New England airports work together on this plan;
maybe that’s an opportunity for the Coalition to interact with them as a group.
______________________________________________________________________________
Airport Outreach Visit
Location: Raleigh-Durham Airport Date: July 17, 2003
Participants:
Name Title/Agency info
John Brantley
(first meeting only)
Airport Director, RDU
Airport Authority
David King
Deputy Secretary for
Transit, NCDOT
ddking@dot.state.nc.us
9190733-2520
Bill Williams
Director of Aviation,
NCDOT
wwilliams@dot.state.nc.us
Chris Cox
Matthew Coogan
Ted Alman
(second meeting only)
I-95 Corridor Coalition
I-95 Corridor Coalition
Special Projects Manager,
NCDOT, Div. of Aviation
919-840-0112
talman@dot.state.nc.us
Highlights of Discussion with Airport Director:
Cox/Coogan gave brief overview of Coalition history and reason for this project – to talk to Airport
management about how the Aviation mode could become more a part of the Coalition’s intermodal
“table.”
The Airport Director talked generally about cargo intermodal connections, giving some local
examples, as well as pointing to successful air-rail-truck intermodal facilities in Huntsville, Alabama
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and in Texas. His opinion is that cargo growth is truck-centered, with airports becoming more of a
transfer point.
More input from Director Brantley:
FedEx is planning a major facility at Greensboro for an air-truck connection.
At Raleigh-Durham, there has been growth in shipping cargo in the belly of passenger planes –
example of United flights to London. At Charlotte, a Norfolk-Western yard is being moved to the
airport.
At the intermediate size airports that are not in a densely populated area, it is much more difficult to
develop economically feasible air-rail links whose ridership justifies the investment to build. That
situation exists with the Research Triangle area and the Raleigh-Durham Airport. Negotiations
with Amtrak are underway for a station stop at Research Triangle Park which is about 2 miles
away. Some kind of (shuttle) link from there to the Airport would be a logical next step. At some
time in the future there will be transit connection at RDU.
The Director commented that the U.S. is moving toward more of a European model of an
integrated system of transportation…and that Airports have to be a part of that model. It wasn’t
always that way in the U.S.
With airline service consolidation increasing, ground access to outlying areas will be more
important. (RDU is growing to over 20,000 parking spaces.)
In NC, the airport has the potential to be the draw for the integrated system hub. RDU is close to a
rail line, but the dollars to get rail into the airport aren’t there. Some companies may cluster near
the airport and bring the rail along with them.
“Airports have to become better servants to passengers & freight.”
We have to make better use of what we have (the infrastructure). Larger airports have to become
multi-modal centers because of the limit of land.
With freight, there has been fluctuation with the economy and national events. Incoming freight to
RDU is stable; outgoing is down.
RDU will be a center of commerce; it’s going to happen and we have to optimize the transition.
RDU has grown from 47% to 52% of the airport origin/destination usage in North Carolina
__________
The question was asked of the Airport Director – where do you find like-minded folks who think
about the wider vision of an integrated system?
Response - in an academic setting like the Center for University Transportation Research;
At TRB, there is more of an Aviation presence than at other associations.
The full integrated system approach can’t have a bias that is modal or political.
Have to have a forum that’s not biased, where people can get thinking reasonably together; not in
a grant-giving environment either; need a forum for true debating of a more academic nature.
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__________
The conversation shifted briefly to issues of small airports/smaller communities and their
desperation to keep airports functioning when it’s not necessarily feasible to do so. Is there really
a future role for short-hop commuter links to airports like RDU?
David King expressed the desire to have the strength of consensus from other states’ experiences
to go to small communities with viable alternatives to keeping the airports operating. Small
communities need consensus answers. [Is there a Coalition role here?]
David King suggested a Coalition activity:
Conduct an issue-driven forum. Pick and choose issues(s) such as small airports/communities. Or
get a half dozen airport operators from a half dozen states to “debate” the airport as intermodal
center; bring back ideas that are helpful to all who participated and to those who didn’t.
If the Coalition does something, it has to be valuable to the participants. Airport operators are very
busy and could go to a meeting/conference every day if they wanted to. The best use of their time
is to go to an event where they “Find out best practice, share it, go back and practice it.” Don’t do
something that isn’t helpful.
__________
At a follow up meeting with David King and Ted Alman at the Aviation building, they shared
information about North Carolina DOT’s study of Commercial Air Service in the state. The data
was later used to develop an application to USDOT on behalf of a consortium of 6 small
communities and their airports for a grant that would support marketing and outreach activities,
funded through the Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program at USDOT. That
application was just submitted.
In the past, airports have applied directly. It is atypical for a state, acting on behalf of a consortium
of small airports, to be the applicant.
______________________________________________________________________________
Airport Outreach – telephone contacts
Name Title/Agency Info
Dick Marchi
Airports Council
International,
Capacity & infrastructure
202-293-8500,
RMarchi@aci-na.org
Jim Larsen JFK Air Cargo Assoc. Jfkaircargo.com,
1-845-528-4453
Richard Horstmann Edwards & Kelsey 610-701-7000,
rhorstmann@ekmail.com
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Highlights from conversations:
Marchi – Airport managers are not intermodally enlightened, except maybe where there are air
quality problems. In general, driving is still expected. Some intermodal centers are growing from
consolidated auto rental facilities; there is a trend to move rental cars remotely together. Re: air
freight – A freight mover makes a tactical choice to move freight by truck to the best airport. There
is competition among modes for funding opportunities. There is an educational need about funding
in other modes. Misconception is that surface mode people are trying to steal money from other
modes. The Coalition could provide a forum for best practices around customer issues at
intermodal links. “Most surface access thinking is not good analysis.”
Larsen – opportunities exist in the air cargo arena for coordination, cooperation, data-exchange,
advocacy & leadership; operations & safety coordination. Issues of technology and liability are
important. Emergency back-up planning for water-bound airports is important, such as the use of
ferries as links for cargo.
Horstmann – drawing from previous airport experience, and knowing the impact that a discount
carrier has on the use of an airport, suggest that the Coalition consider a study of the potential
shifts in usage, and the transportation system impacts from a Jet Blue or Southwest Airlines
locating at one of the regional airports.
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