T.F. Green Airport Improvement Program - FEIS Chapters - PVD

T.F. Green Airport Improvement ProgramEnvironmental Impact Statement and Final Section 4(f) EvaluationThe NERASP air passenger survey also found that airport proximity is the largest single factor in passenger airportselection. Passenger proximity is represented by a catchment area that extends from an airport to the point wheretravel times to an adjacent airport are equal. The catchment areas for airports in the eastern New England regionare shown in Figure 2-1. If proximity were the only factor in choosing an airport, then all passengers originatingwithin each airport’s catchment area would use that airport exclusively.However, there are a number of factors other than proximity that passengers consider when selecting an airport touse. The NERASP air passenger survey noted that New England air passengers also consider:• Airport congestion,• Ease of access,• Lower airline fares, and• Availability of non-stop flights.These findings are consistent with surveys of airport usage across the country 43 in which airport choice for businesspassengers is driven mainly by the availability of non-stop flights, more convenient flight times, and greater flightfrequency. For a business traveler, increased travel time results in decreased productivity. Leisure passengers selectairports mainly because of lower air fares and the availability of non-stop flights. The balance of cost versus traveltime depends on the passenger’s total available leisure time. For example, the importance of travel time increases asthe leisure time is reduced (i.e., a week-long vacation versus a weekend vacation). The greatest effect on scheduledtravel time occurs when there is an airline connection required to arrive at the final destination. Non-stop flightsgreatly reduce travel times and increase likelihood of unscheduled travel delays.As a result of the many factors that affect the choice of airports by passengers, the NERASP air passenger survey 44found that the largest New England airports, including Logan and T.F. Green Airports, have substantiallyoverlapping service areas. An airport’s service area is where passengers originate from to use the airport. Anairport’s service area in a multi-airport metropolitan system such as eastern New England extends past itscatchment area (Figure 2-1). Figure 2-2 shows the location of originating passengers from New England for each ofthe region’s airports in 2004. As shown in the figure, there is substantial overlap of passenger originating locationsfor T.F Green (PVD), Logan (BOS), and Manchester (MHT) Airports.Leakage occurs when passengers choose to use an airport (or airports) outside the catchment area in which theyare located. According to the NERASP passenger survey, in 2004 approximately 34 percent of the air passengersoriginating within the T.F. Green Airport catchment area used Logan Airport; 59 percent used T.F. Green Airport;five percent used Bradley Airport; and the remaining passengers used Manchester Airport and other airports inNew England as shown in Figure 2-3. Therefore, one-third of all air passengers that originated locally in theT.F. Green Airport catchment area used Logan Airport in 2004. Conversely, only approximately five percent of airpassengers originating in the Logan Airport catchment area used T.F. Green Airport.43 Passenger Air Service Development Techniques, Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 18, Transportation Research Board (TRB), 2009.44 According to the NERASP’s Draft Technical Paper II-1: Survey Methodology (October 2004), a total of 18,527 passenger surveys were completed in Spring2004 at ten airports in the New England Region (including 2,710 passenger surveys completed at T.F. Green Airport). Survey questions included thepassenger’s flight information, local address the passenger’s trip was started from, number of times particular New England airports have been used in the pastyear, and total household income.Chapter 2 – Purpose and Need 2-9 July 2011\\mawatr\ev\09228.00\reports\FEIS_Final_July_2011\PVD_CH02_P&N_JUL_2011.doc