Title: Fly by Bus, Fly by Train: Identifying and Quantifying the Factors Supporting the Use of Public Transport in the United Kingdom for Travel to and from Airports
Abstract: The encouragement of the use of public passenger transport for a variety of travel tasks is a major feature of British transport policy. One specific area within this policy concerns the surface or land transport access to and from airports; this was acknowledged in the recent Draft Aviation Policy Framework (July 2012). This concern is also shown at devolved Government level: in their National Transport Strategy (2006), the Scottish Ministers specifically included the intention to provide rail access for Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports. As it happens, the data on the use made of public passenger transport for access to airports in the United Kingdom, show significant variation. This is true even for airports of comparable passenger volumes and passenger mix (for example, between international and domestic traffic). Furthermore, the presence of a rail link to an airport does not always appear to be reflected in a stronger use of public transport overall; some airports which are served by rail do not see much use made of that service. The purpose of this paper is to review the data on the market share of public transport for airport access within the United Kingdom, to identify the principal causative factor(s) which drive that market share, and to discuss as well the specific situation in Scotland. Accordingly, the paper is structured in three parts. First, the data reported by the Civil Aviation Authority‟s annual surveys are collated, based on the 2009 results, as this was the most recent survey of the five Scottish airports; the sample was then expanded with 2010 and 2008 survey results for a number of the smaller airports not surveyed in 2009. Second, those data for public transport use are compared against possible causative factors and some trend results are derived. Third, some specific issues for promoting the market for public transport airport travel, are identified and considered further. In particular the hindrances to the greater use of airport public transport are identified and discussed. The travel patterns of the people who work at airports are noted in passing as well.
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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