Today's Guest Blogger is Tom Bud, a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. Tom is completing a PhD thesis investigating future strategies for reducing the environmental impact of surface access travel to UK airports.
The aviation industry cannot be accused of resting on its laurels when it comes to its environmental responsibility. In recent years there have been notable and important advances in areas such as alternative fuels and airframe design. While these technologies may prove invaluable in securing the environmental sustainability of air travel in the medium to long term, their potential for significant emissions cuts in the short term are limited.
One area where emissions cuts are perhaps more feasible is airport surface access;, the means by which people access/egress airports by ground transportation. However, there is still much work to be done. Perhaps most notably there is an urgent need to reduce the share of journeys made by private car.
In the UK, for example, private car trips currently dominate the share of surface access journeys to airports. Passengers may have heavy luggage with them that can be difficult to take on public transport. It is also commonplace for passengers to be dropped off and picked up at the airport terminal by friends or relatives. This is especially environmentally intensive as four journeys are made to the airport instead of two had the passenger driven themselves. Should this pattern continue, it is likely that forecasted growth in UK air travel will result in raised levels of traffic congestion on airport roads, local noise and air pollution and increased climate change emissions.
It is not all doom and gloom however. For example, dedicated rail links at airports such as Stockholm Arlanda and Oslo-Garmeon have increased public transport access to these airports in recent years. In the UK, the opening of rail stations at Luton Airport Parkway and East Midlands Parkway has encouraged rail access to Luton Airport and East Midlands airport respectively. The majority of airports are connected to local bus services, but it is vital that they are regular, reliable and suitable for transporting luggage and serve a suitable geographical area.
In addition, airport operators have an important role to play in encouraging sustainable employee access. Travel Cards offering reduced fares on public transport for employees, car sharing schemes, interest free loans to purchase bicycles and other similar initiatives are in operation at some UK airports.
Significant short term reductions in surface access emissions are a very real and achievable goal. However, it is vital that airport operators work closely with local authorities, governments and other decision makers to ensure there are genuine, viable alternatives to the private car when it comes to accessing airports. Passengers, on the other hand, must quickly realise that the environmental impacts of their journey are not confined to the duration of the flight, but start from the moment they leave their front door.









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