Airports are among the most complex of terminals and thus entirely of a different order. Moving a large number of people through an airport has become a very significant challenge. Passengers can spend several hours transiting, with security checks on departure and check-in on arrival, and baggage picks up as well as immigration and customs checks on arrival. Airports are in the recent past, challenged with the provision of logistical facilities to assist passengers in moving quickly and effectively in airports. This is as a result of an increase in the number of passengers seeking air transport services. Airports and airlines, therefore, need to put in place a well-designed passenger conveyance system to facilitate the easy movement of a large number of passengers within the airport. Essentially, well designed Automated People Movers, moving walkways and escalators are ultimate solutions to enable effective and quick movements of a large number of passengers through airports (“TransSolutions,” 2012). Ultimately, global airports need to embrace these transport technologies to meet the growing demand for air travel.
To facilitate ease of passenger movement in airports, Automated People Movers are an efficient and effective way of enhancing the smooth movement of passengers. These are fully automated transit systems featuring vehicles consisting of up to four cars, each with a carrying capacity of 20 to 150 passengers (Urusov, 2017). The Automated People Movers travel on exclusive right-of-way guideways that are distinct from the traditional light and heavy rail public transportation as they operate without station attendants or drivers. People movers are typically capable of using smaller vehicles and narrow right-of-way as compared to traditional rail transport services. The Automated People Movers are, therefore, capable of solving the challenges of traffic congestion as well as significantly improving the overall passenger experience in airports. This is due to their capacity flexibility as the cars can be added or reduced according to demand, as well as flexibility in controlling their frequency.
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Automated People Movers offer reliable transport system through the airport. In the current airport environments, terminal buildings are often spread. The transit system offers a quick movement of passengers in such environments where buses or walking are not feasible. The Automated People movers are recently being designed to link airport terminals to landside facilities such as hotels, car rental services, car parking, regional transportation services, as well as to other related activity and employment centers. This enables passengers to arrive at the aircraft gates with minimal stress and easily.
Alternatives to light rail transportation, which includes intermodal transit centers and landside people movers, are capable of decreasing traffic congestion in the airport locality and as well as alleviating congestion of passengers within the airport facility. With mixed-mode transit, it accelerates the flow of passengers at busy airport facilities and minimizes traffic holdups in and around airport terminals. For example, San Francisco International Airport has an intermodal transit system that offers a seamless connection between the airport and the immediate local metropolitan region. Its airport’s automated people movers connect directly to the Bay Area Transit System consisting of a heavy rail line serving several regions in the San Francisco Bay Area (Urusov, 2017). Therefore, passengers are able to travel conveniently to and from the airport and their homes without using their cars. The use of automated people movers, therefore, has the considerable ability to ease congestion in busy airports in comparison to mobile lounges.
Automated people movers are beneficial in relation to mobile lounges in facilitating the swift movement of passengers through the airport. This is due to the fact that the movers travel in designated exclusive right-of-way guideways, whereas mobile lounges are driven by individuals within the airport space (Archetti & Peirano, 2019). Therefore, mobile lounges have the potential of interfering with the movement of luggage carriers and other personnel in the airport space, thus creating traffic within the facility and elevated possible chances of accidents. Additionally, the movers are automated with the capabilities of adjusting the number of passengers they carry by increasing or reducing the number of cars to meet demand (van Doorne, Lodewijks, & van Blokland, 2019). This aspect of flexibility and automation lacks in the mobile lounges as they necessitate a driver and fixed capacity of passengers they can carry.
Moving walkways consists of another way of ensuring the quick and effective movement of people through the airport. Moving walkways are essential facilities in any airport that seeks to enhance the movement of passengers within the airport facility. The walkways facilitate the speedy movement of passengers with heavy luggage through the long distances between the terminal and the concourses or terminal to transport stations and parking. Strategically designed moving walkways are capable of facilitating quick movements of passengers in a congested airport. The walkways offer the swift movement of passengers in both opposing directions and thus reduce congestions and rapid movements of passengers in various directions (Jordan, 2017). The study shows that moving walkways prevent pedestrians from colliding from those moving in impeding direction. Subsequently, moving walkways assist in maintaining an orderly movement of passengers and thereby reduce congestions in busy airports.
Escalators are another automated facility that provides easier movement of passengers up and down the floors of a building. In airports, escalators offer a quick, effective way of transporting passengers in and out of the different parts of airport buildings meant to serve different functions of the facility. Accommodating the volume of passengers requires adjusting the speed of the escalators. Passengers with heavy luggage largely benefit from the aided movements of these facilities as they do not need to lift the luggage up the staircase as they are essentially moving stairs. Additionally, escalators are designed to offer two-way movements, up and down the staircase, thus reducing congestion and collisions up the staircase. Ultimately, escalators aid in offering efficient and quick movements of passengers up and down to designated destinations of airport buildings as well as minimizing congestions.
Escalators are the widely used and the simplest forms of people movers within buildings in a terminal for countering the level changes and the moving walkways for facilitating near and horizontal transport. Moving walkways usually cover distances of up to 200 meters. Usually, they do not shorten the time duration for getting to the aircraft, but they give passengers the comfort of movement and orderly movements. The reliability of automated people movers is typically higher than that of movable walkways or escalators, and they are as well less vulnerable to labor disputes than buses.
Controlling and assisting movements of passengers in airports is significant in reducing and avoiding congestions of a large number of people in the facility. Eventually, the use of automated facilities such as automated people movers, moving walkways, and escalators are ultimate solutions that can facilitate the movement of a huge number of passengers through an airport. These automated facilities reduce congestion as well as aid travelers to move through to their designated destination without unnecessary straining. Therefore, it is practical for any busy airport to implement these fundamental facilities for it to ensure a satisfactory passenger experience and eliminate unnecessary congestions.
References
Archetti, C., & Peirano, L. (2019). Air intermodal freight transportation: the freight forwarder service problem. Omega , 102040.
Jordan, G. (2017). Optimizing Pedestrian Flow In Airports (Doctoral dissertation, University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Kraemer Family Library).
TransSolutions, LLC., Clemson University., Kimley-Horn and Associates., United States., National Research Council (U.S.)., & Airport Cooperative Research Program. (2012). Airport passenger conveyance systems planning guidebook . Washington, D.C: Transportation Research Board.
Urusov, O. R. (2017). AIRPORT SPECIAL PURPOSE VEHICLES.
van Doorne, M., Lodewijks, G., & Beelaerts van Blokland, W. W. A. (2019). Adapting Automated People Mover capacity on airports to real-time demand. In ATRS 2019: 23rd World Conference Air Transport Research Society .
