Aerotropolis Americas Live: Transportation, Accessibility, Accessibility, Accessibility!
For the aerotropolis to become fully integrated, it is imperative to incorporate all transportation assets. Effectively combining these resources in poopulation centres, and serves as a catalyst for development. Airport CEOs, transportation experts and supply chain leaders who have experience and knowledge in the aerotropolis answer questions including the following:
- How to deal with US transport planning & regulation issues.
- How to overcome issues related to US transport operations and funding.
Moderator: Mabrie Jackson, President & CEO, North Texas Commission.
- Tim McKay, EVP Growth & Regional Department, DART
- Stephen Walz, Director, Regional Energy Planning, Northern Virginia Regional Commission.
- Michael Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments.
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Speakers: Mabrie Jackson, Tim McKay, Stephen Walz, Michael Morris
The speakers provide a brief overview of their interests before answering questions from the audience
Tim McKay, executive VP, Growth and Regional Development, DART
What is DART?
- A Dallas Area Rapid Transit system across 13 member cities providing bus, light rail, commuter rail, HOV and Paratransit
**The rail expansion programme is the longest light rail system in North America**
- Currently it is 85 miles with 61 stations, growing to 93 miles
http://www.dart.org/
http://www.dart.org/maps.asp
Trinity Railway Express (TRE) is the first commuter rail line in the Southwest US.
There are two key authority agencies - the FTA and the FAA
The Orange line is 5.2 miles serving DFW station
"In this day and time it's really difficult to progress any kind of development without partners. We have to do this to leverage our assets and spread our message."
Stephen Walz, director, regional energy planning, Northern Virginia Regional Commission
Economic drivers in Northern Virginia:
- federal contractors
- technology
- federal facilities
- health
International partnerships and best practices:
- our goal is to use international examples and learn from them
Accessibility in the area:
- Dulles International Airport
- Reagan National Airport
- BWI - Thurgood Marshall Airport
Finally getting more choices in transportation to the airport:
- Silver line is a $5.6bn rail link with 11 stations over 23 miles - providing accessibility to the airport and beyond, very much an economic driver for the area.
The bigger picture:
- bring local governments together
- outreach to business community
- incorporate international best practice
Michael Morris, director of transportation, NCTCG
**North Texas does not have access to the sea, so airport transport is critical**
- There are 56 general aviation airports in addition to DFW
- There are 500,000 aviation-related jobs in the region.
- DFW is the fourth busiest airport in the world.
- 600,000 tons of cargo were moved in 2012
The figures:
- The region is spending about $3.2 billion on roads
- $5bn of rail improvements
- $18.5bn of annual benefit to the region as a result of aviation-related business
The light rail line will allow you to transfer from Love Field Airport to DFW in a significantly easier and faster time.
http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/texas/texas-airports.html
Questions from the audience
How does innovative funding play a role in aerotropolis development?
MM - We have introduced guaranteed levels of service in the toll roads, the contractor gets penalised if you don't get the speeds you need. So we ask what would you be willing to pay to get your flight on time. Tolls therefore are an innovation in funding.
- We're considering using passenger trains as a high-end cargo freight as well.
SW - 54 % of funding for the Silver Line is also being paid for by tolls.
- We need to look at how can we tie infrastructure fees and other regional revenue drivers to the airport
TM - it's really about partnerships. We have to leverage our assets.
- it's not just about the capital dollars, after you build it you still have to maintain it, so you have to find funding for operations and maintenance.
- we need to start repackaging to attract those operations and maintenance funds. You could have a partner that takes on that cost
- sometimes we wait too long to plan for the future, we need to start looking longer term
https://twitter.com/AirportCities/status/395633250367836160
How do you plan for disruptions in accessibility?
SW - Alot of it is about communication, getting the news out, using signage. Also creating barriers to divert traffic. But communication is the biggest thing we can do.
- also using multi-modal transportation to divert when there are problems
TM - the biggest thing is contingency planning and communication.
- We had a time when there was a game on and we had planned for 50,000 trips to that game and then the total traffic was 155,000 - we took a beating that day.
- we deal with a lot of special events, so we engage with partners in advance to get resources to get people moving.
- communicating with people makes them more patient. In a world where we communicate instantly it's just not acceptable to not let people know what's going on.
- try not to be too competitive...airports, railways and roads should work together to make transportation more efficient
- during the Superbowl we considered all aspects of the transportation. We had one of the worst snow falls we had had. But because we had planned, with extensive provisions at the airport, snow plows etc, it meant that we could still operate within those pressurised experiences.
- half of the delays our customers suffer is due to an incident. Planning in infrastructure can help things move smoothly.
SW - I think it's also important to run scenarios to ensure that you have capability to move people.
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