AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH ACRP PROGRAM REPORT 37 Sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration Guidebook for Planning and Implementing Automated People Mover Systems at Airports ACRP OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE* TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2010 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE* CHAIR OFFICERS James Wilding CHAIR: Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (re- Governments, Arlington tired) VICE CHAIR: Neil J. Pedersen, Administrator, Maryland State Highway Administration, Baltimore VICE CHAIR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board Jeff Hamiel MEMBERS Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission J. Barry Barker, Executive Director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, KY Allen D. Biehler, Secretary, Pennsylvania DOT, Harrisburg MEMBERS Larry L. Brown, Sr., Executive Director, Mississippi DOT, Jackson James Crites Deborah H. Butler, Executive Vice President, Planning, and CIO, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport Norfolk, VA Richard de Neufville William A.V. Clark, Professor, Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles Massachusetts Institute of Technology Eugene A. Conti, Jr., Secretary of Transportation, North Carolina DOT, Raleigh Kevin C. Dolliole Unison Consulting Nicholas J. Garber, Henry L. Kinnier Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, and Director, John K. Duval Center for Transportation Studies, University of Virginia, Charlottesville Austin Commercial, LP Jeffrey W. Hamiel, Executive Director, Metropolitan Airports Commission, Minneapolis, MN Kitty Freidheim Paula J. Hammond, Secretary, Washington State DOT, Olympia Freidheim Consulting Steve Grossman Edward A. (Ned) Helme, President, Center for Clean Air Policy, Washington, DC Jacksonville Aviation Authority Adib K. Kanafani, Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley Tom Jensen Susan Martinovich, Director, Nevada DOT, Carson City National Safe Skies Alliance Debra L. Miller, Secretary, Kansas DOT, Topeka Catherine M. Lang Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson Federal Aviation Administration Gina Marie Lindsey Tracy L. Rosser, Vice President, Corporate Traffic, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Mandeville, LA Los Angeles World Airports Steven T. Scalzo, Chief Operating Officer, Marine Resources Group, Seattle, WA Carolyn Motz Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Chairman (retired), Jacobs/Sverdrup Civil, Inc., St. Louis, MO Hagerstown Regional Airport Beverly A. Scott, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Richard Tucker Authority, Atlanta, GA Huntsville International Airport David Seltzer, Principal, Mercator Advisors LLC, Philadelphia, PA EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Daniel Sperling, Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy; Director, Institute of Transportation Studies; and Interim Director, Energy Efficiency Center, University of California, Davis Sabrina Johnson Kirk T. Steudle, Director, Michigan DOT, Lansing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Richard Marchi Douglas W. Stotlar, President and CEO, Con-Way, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI Airports Council International—North America C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin Laura McKee Air Transport Association of America EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Henry Ogrodzinski National Association of State Aviation Officials Peter H. Appel, Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S.DOT Melissa Sabatine J. Randolph Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S.DOT American Association of Airport Executives Rebecca M. Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute, Smyrna, GA Robert E. Skinner, Jr. George Bugliarello, President Emeritus and University Professor, Polytechnic Institute of New York Transportation Research Board University, Brooklyn; Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC SECRETARY Anne S. Ferro, Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S.DOT LeRoy Gishi, Chief, Division of Transportation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Christopher W. Jenks Interior, Washington, DC Transportation Research Board Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC John C. Horsley, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC David T. Matsuda, Deputy Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S.DOT Victor M. Mendez, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, U.S.DOT William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC Robert J. Papp (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC Cynthia L. Quarterman, Administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S.DOT Peter M. Rogoff, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S.DOT David L. Strickland, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S.DOT Joseph C. Szabo, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S.DOT Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S.DOT Robert L. Van Antwerp (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC *Membership as of June 2010. *Membership as of July 2010. AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM ACRP REPORT 37 Guidebook for Planning and Implementing Automated People Mover Systems at Airports LEA+ELLIOTT Dulles, Virginia with KIMLEY-HORN AND ASSOCIATES, INC. Houston, Texas and RANDOLPH RICHARDSON ASSOCIATES Fairfax, Virginia Subscriber Categories Aviation Research sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2010 www.TRB.org AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM ACRP REPORT 37 Airports are vital national resources. They serve a key role in trans- Project 03-06 portation of people and goods and in regional, national, and inter- ISSN 1935-9802 national commerce. They are where the nation’s aviation system ISBN 978-0-309-15498-7 connects with other modes of transportation and where federal respon- Library of Congress Control Number 2010935005 sibility for managing and regulating air traffic operations intersects with the role of state and local governments that own and operate most © 2010 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. airports. Research is necessary to solve common operating problems, to adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and to introduce innovations into the airport industry. The Airport Coopera- COPYRIGHT INFORMATION tive Research Program (ACRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the airport industry can develop innovative near-term solutions Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously to meet demands placed on it. published or copyrighted material used herein. The need for ACRP was identified in TRB Special Report 272: Airport Research Needs: Cooperative Solutions in 2003, based on a study spon- Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this sored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The ACRP carries publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB or FAA endorsement out applied research on problems that are shared by airport operating of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the agencies and are not being adequately addressed by existing federal material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate research programs. It is modeled after the successful National Coopera- acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of tive Highway Research Program and Transit Cooperative Research Pro- the material, request permission from CRP. gram. The ACRP undertakes research and other technical activities in a variety of airport subject areas, including design, construction, mainte- nance, operations, safety, security, policy, planning, human resources, NOTICE and administration. The ACRP provides a forum where airport opera- tors can cooperatively address common operational problems. The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Airport Cooperative Research The ACRP was authorized in December 2003 as part of the Vision Program, conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act. The primary partici- pants in the ACRP are (1) an independent governing board, the ACRP The members of the technical panel selected to monitor this project and to review this Oversight Committee (AOC), appointed by the Secretary of the U.S. report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. The report was reviewed by the technical panel and accepted for publication according to Department of Transportation with representation from airport oper- procedures established and overseen by the Transportation Research Board and approved ating agencies, other stakeholders, and relevant industry organizations by the Governing Board of the National Research Council.