Issues in the Design and Analysis of Airport Ground Transport Systems

Loop transportation systems are studied. The standard critical link analysis is evaluated and found to be deficient in several ways. The concepts of spatial and temporal service variability are introduced and means of quantifying these phenomena are presented. A simulation model is used to assess the effects of service variability on performance or waiting times.

The models presented are designed to augment the critical link analysis and to allow designers to gain a better feel for the system behavior before running detailed simulations.