Evaluating conditions and impact of intermodal traffic management involving airports and railways

Abstract

Developing a transport system meeting the requirement of seamless door-to-door travel as envisioned by the report Flightpath 2050 necessitates a conjunction of different modes in the form of physical connections, encompassing management structures, and appropriate business models. We employ our simulation environment comprising of microscopic simulation and associated management tools to evaluate the possibility of not only exchanging information, but also adjusting operational parameters on the basis of the overall situation. The questions are what information exchange is needed, how large is the operational impact, and how can the anticipated success of an overall traffic management be assessed. Reliable data are crucial for management and evaluation. We show that on the one hand, management capabilities can be enhanced by determining the overall state of an airport and on the other hand by considering the so-called passenger trajectory. The state can be retrieved from Key Performance Indicators and Key Control Parameters which represent adjustable parameters. The passenger trajectory consists of pairs of points in space and time, where the passenger passes a certain milestone of the journey. This data can be used to compute the remaining time to the airport or even to a specific gate determining whether a passenger can be at the gate in time. If a critical mass is reached, intermodal operations can be adjusted. Our management system based on the microscopic simulation includes a connection to railway and aircraft movement management together with a forecast to estimate the propagation of the state of the airport. The evaluation capability of our system is demonstrated by a scenario consisting of a delay of a train leading to passengers not being able to reach their flight. Based on the data, the system - including microscopic simulation and management structure - provides the sensitivity of Key Performance Indicators such as boarding score on the change of delay profiles. This provides a measure for the feasibility of an action based on its extent focusing on cross-modal operation changes.