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Japan Railway & Transport Review 39 • July 200426 Copyright © 2004 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

Making New Connections:Airport Rail Links in the United States

Kenneth Lin

Joining a worldwide trend, there arenow 15 airports in the USA that haverail links. Table 1 lists these airports,the number of airline terminals at eachairport, the opening date of the rail linkand the type of rail link. As can be seen,these links are varied—encompassingintercity rail, commuter railways,subways/metro, automated peoplemovers, monorails and l ight rai l .Airports that rely upon a shuttle bus toaccess a rail link are not shown in Table 1because they do not provide a directrail connection to the airport terminal.Two such airports are Boston’s LoganAirport (which requires an airport-operated shuttle bus to the nearby BlueL ine subway ) and Lo s Ange l e sInternational Airport (which requires atransit agency-operated airport shuttlebus to the Green Line light rail).Providing airport rail links in the USA is arelatively recent phenomenon. The firstNorth American rail link opened in 1968.Foretelling a trend, Hopkins InternationalAirport was l inked to downtownCleveland, Ohio, via an extension of the

Regional Transit Authority’s Red Linesubway. It would not be until a decadelater—in 1977—that the second airportrail link would open, this time toWashington DC’s Reagan NationalAirport.Since then, the pace of creating newairpor t ra i l l inks has quickenedconsiderably with 13 of the 15 airport raillinks opening within the past 20 years.Table 2 lists the number of new airportrail links opened in each decade.Why the recent interest and increase inairport rail links? There are severalcontributing factors, including:• Increased use of public transport in

cities that have good public transport.• Increased highway congestion, and a

need for reliable transportation linksto the airport.

• Greater expectations for low-costtransport from the airport to citycentres (especially by those airportcus tomers who have becomeaccustomed to good airport rail linksin Europe).

• Greater availability of public transport

construction funding (particularlycompared to the 1960s).

• Recognition by civic officials and thebusiness community that reliable,quick, reasonably priced rail links aregood for economic development.Airports create jobs and are a majorsource of employment in many cities.

• Need to reduce environmentalimpacts created by ever-busierairports—such as increased roadvehicular traffic and emissions.

Table 1 US Airports with Rail Links

IATA Number of airline Opening Intercity Commuter Subway or PeopleCode City Airport name terminals date rail rail metro mover Monorail Light rail

ANC Anchorage Ted Stevens Anchorage International 2 2003 1)

ATL Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International 1 1988

BWI Baltimore Baltimore/Washington International 1 1997

BUR Burbank Bob Hope2) 1 1995

MDW Chicago O'Hare International 4 1984

ORD Chicago Midway International 1 1993

CLE Cleveland Cleveland Hopkins International 1 1968

JFK New York John F. Kennedy International 9 2003

EWR Newark Newark Liberty International 3 2001

PHL Philadelphia Philadelphia International 5 1985

PDX Portland Portland International 1 2001

STL Saint Louis Lambert-St. Louis 2 1994

SFO San Francisco San Francisco International 4 2003

SBN South Bend South Bend Regional 1 1992

DCA Washington DC Ronald Reagan Washington National 2 1977

Totals by mode type 1 3 6 1 1 3

1) Although this airport has a train station, there is currently no regularly scheduled rail service serving the airport.2) A joint intercity rail and commuter rail airport train station is located within walking distance from the terminal. A shuttle bus connection is available.

Table 2 Opening Years for USAirport Rail Links

Number of newairport rail links opened

1960–69 1

1970–79 1

1980–89 3

1990–99 5

2000–04 5

Total 15

Japan Railway & Transport Review 39 • July 2004 27Copyright © 2004 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

• Need for landside transportationcapacity to keep pace with airsideexpansion and capacity.

As Table 1 indicates, there is no one modalapproach used by all US cities to providetheir rail links, although subway/metroextensions are the most commonnumerically, followed by light-railconnections. While long-distance,intercity (main line) trains providing directservice to the airport terminal are commonin Germany, Switzerland, and France,such links are almost non-existent in theUSA. The newly constructed railwayterminal at Ted Stevens AnchorageInternational Airport in Alaska couldprovide such service, but Alaska Railroadis not currently providing any scheduledpassenger train service to that airport.Apparently opening a new on-airport trainstation is no guarantee that it will actuallybe served by trains! The joint Amtrak(intercity rail) and Metrolink commuter railstation serving the airport at Burbank,California (just north of Los Angeles)comes closest to the European model,although this station has no physicalconnection to the airport terminal.Since 2001, four new airport rail linkshave opened (plus the inactive link inAnchorage). Each of the four active linksuses different people-moving technologyand is discussed in greater detail below.

John F Kennedy InternationalAirport: AirTrain JFK

AirTrain JFK is the newest US airport raillink; it opened in December 2003, just intime to serve the busy December holidayseason. AirTrain JFK uses Bombardier’sMark II railcar with linear induction motor,driverless, automated people-movertechnology to serve a 13.2-km on-airportand off-airport railway network. Theinauguration of this automated rail systemrepresents the first permanent use ofdriverless technology in New York City.

AirTrain JFK has three routes:• A 2.9-km elevated, airport terminal

loop with six stations serving JFK’s nineairline terminals within the CentralTerminal Area (CTA). A completecircuit takes 8 minutes. This replacesa former shuttle bus service that wassubject to road traffic delays duringpeak periods. There is no charge toride this loop.

• A 5.7-km mostly elevated route toNew York City Transit’s (NYCT)Howard Beach subway station,stopping en route at Federal CircleStation (for rental car facilities) and astation serving both the long-termparking and employee parking lot. AtHoward Beach, customers can changeto the legendary A train (immortalizedby jazz musician Duke Ellington) forsubway service to Brooklyn anddowntown Manhattan. Travel timefrom the last stop within the CTA(Terminal 8/9) to Howard BeachStation is 8 minutes. The journey onthe A train to downtown Manhattantakes about another 40 minutes.

AirTrain JFK replaces three former,free-of-charge, shuttle bus routes thatused to link Howard Beach Stationand the CTA. It is free for the on-airport portion, but a $5.00 fare ischarged for connecting to the subwayat Howard Beach (an additional $2.00fare is charged for the subway ride).Both AirTrain JFK and subway farescan be paid using the subwayMetroCard, a stored-fare, magnetic-stripe card. These fares can bereduced by approximately 17% ifmultiple fares are purchased at once.

• A 5.3-km route serving the Long IslandRail Road’s (LIRR) Jamaica Station, andalso stopping en route at FederalCircle. The travel time to JamaicaStation is also 8 minutes and thestation is an important hub for theLIRR, serving as an interchange for 10of their 11 branch lines. Many JFKAirport passengers and airportemployees live on Long Island, eastof the airport, so Jamaica Stationprovides a convenient transfer pointfor such customers. At Jamaica,

AirTrain JFK vehicle (Author)

Japan Railway & Transport Review 39 • July 200428


Copyright © 2004 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

AirTrain JFK customers can alsotransfer to NYCT’s E train for serviceto Queens and midtown Manhattanor to the J and Z trains for service toBrooklyn and downtown Manhattan.The journey on the E train to midtownManhattan takes about another 30minutes. Jamaica Station is also animportant hub for 17 bus routes.

As with the Howard Beach route, a $5.00fare is charged at Jamaica Station. LIRRfares between Jamaica and New YorkPenn Station in Manhattan range from$2.50 to $6.75, depending upon time ofday and day of week. Consequently, acombined AirTrain JFK plus LIRR fareranges from $7.50 to $11.75. (In responseto public comments, a joint ticket useableon both the subway and LIRR is finallynow available.) By comparison, a taxifrom JFK to midtown Manhattan costsabout $55 (including tolls and tip). Thetime by taxi can range from 30 minutesduring the times when there is little trafficto over 90 minutes during peak rushhours. Table 3 lists the cost of using therail link versus taxi in the four US citieswhere airport rail links have opened since2001.LIRR tickets can be purchased at JamaicaStation from staffed ticket windows or viaticket vending machines. A potentialsource of confusion for those unfamiliar

with LIRR ticket vending machine is thatneither New York nor Manhattan is listedas a ticket destination; rather the ticketdestination for Manhattan is Penn Station.Downtown Jamaica (part of New YorkCity) is a commercial district that hassought to revitalize itself and create neweconomic opportunities during the pastfew decades. Elected and civic officialshave long anticipated the opening ofAirTrain JFK. They expect the 8-minutelink to the airport will make Jamaica anincreasingly attractive place to do businessand provide a new economic boost. Anew downtown redevelopment plan hasproposed creating airport-related uses, suchas back-office corporate space, meetingfacilities, hotels for airline crews, etc.Since AirTrain JFK does not provide adirect, ‘one-seat’ ride to Manhattan (theprimary destination of many visitors), butinstead relies upon customers to connectto either the subway or the LIRR, theinterchanges at Howard Beach andJamaica are being completely rebuilt toprovide an airport-type ambience. ThePort Authority’s (owner of JFK, La Guardiaand Newark airports) design intent is forthese two stations to serve as a virtualextension of JFK Airport, so that departingairline travellers will feel as if they havealready set foot at JFK Airport. To reinforcethat impression, Jamaica Station hasairline check-in counters to process

checked luggage. Alas, these facilities arecurrently unused, because no airline hasinaugurated check-in services at thislocation. This may be partially explainedby the general downturn and cost cuttingaffecting the airline industry. Anotherfactor is that many airlines have beenencouraging customers to use self-serviceInternet check-in (from home or office)and self-service check-in kiosks at airportterminals.During airport peak periods, AirTrain JFKoperates as often as every 2 minutes withinthe CTA and every 4 minutes on theHoward Beach and Jamaica routes. Trainsconsist of either one- or two-car sets,although the stations can physicallyaccommodate train sets of up to four carsfor future expansion.With short travel times, each car has beenfitted to provide copious standing roomwith 26 longitudinal seats arrayed alongthe sides. Luggage racks are provided nearthe two wide doors on each side of the car,enabling multiple streams of passengers toboard and alight simultaneously. Forsafety, platform doors are fitted at eachstation, helping to keep each stationclimate controlled—heated in winter andair conditioned in summer. An unusualpolicy is the ability to take airport luggagecarts on board trains. This customer-friendly feature is found at very few airportrail links, and is much appreciated bycustomers burdened with luggage.JFK has a unique arrangement wherebymajor airlines ‘own’ their airline terminalunder long-term lease. This gave eachowner considerable latitude during thedesign stage about how each AirTrain JFKstation would physically connect to theirterminal—with varying results. One of thebest examples is at the recently openedTerminal 4 where station design wascoordinated with Terminal 4 designefforts. Another good example of designintegration is at Terminal 1 where thestation is between the parking garage andthe airline terminal road. The enclosed

Table 3 Distance and Cost of Transport to Four Case-study Airports

Distance from Typical cost tocity centre city centre via taxi

Airport (km) (including tolls and tips) Cost to city centre via rail link

John F. Kennedy International 24 $55.00 $7.00 via AirTrain + subway

$7.50 to $11.75 via AirTrain +Long Island Rail Road train

Newark Liberty International 26 $55.00–$60.00 $11.55 via New Jersey Transit

$26.00 + via Amtrak

San Francisco International 24 $43.00 $4.95

Portland International 16 $30.00 $1.60


walkway connecting the garage, stationand Terminal 1 thus serves double dutyboth as a climate-controlled pathway tothe station and to the garage.At the Terminal 2/3 Station, Delta Airlinesdid not want a direct connection betweentheir two airline terminals and AirTrain JFKso passengers for Terminals 2 and 3 facean indirect walk with a portion exposedto the elements. Generally speaking, thenewer airline terminals at JFK (i.e.Terminals 1, 4, 8) have the most customer-convenient connections as they weredesigned to accommodate AirTrain JFK.An oft-cited comment is that AirTrain JFKdoes not provide a one-seat ride toManhattan. In response, the PortAuthority specified that AirTrain should beequipment-compatible with either theLIRR or the subway to eventually allowthrough operation. As a consequence, theguideway, third-rail voltage and loadinggauge are compatible with both the LIRRand subway system and either AirTrainJFK, the LIRR or the subway couldsomeday provide the one-seat ride fromJFK to Manhattan. For the moment,jurisdictional, funding, institutional,regulatory and LIRR track-capacity issuespreclude such service.Ironically, American Airlines is a newsupporter for the one-seat ride. Ironic,because American was initially part of anairline industry group that filed a lawsuitseeking to prevent construction of AirTrainJFK. One possible reason for American’sreversal is the rapid growth of rivalContinental Airlines at Newark LibertyInternational Airport where it is thepredominant carrier. Unlike American,Continental was quick to realize themarketing value of a rail link to its hubairport and embraced the concept.AirTrain Newark (the counterpart rail linkserving Newark Liberty Airport) hashelped reshape New Yorker’s perceptionsthat Newark Liberty is no longer a distantairport. American Airlines is currentlyconstructing a new terminal at JFK to

AirTrain JFK at Howard Beach Station (Author)

Rail Links to Newark and JFK Airports

Terminal 1

Howard Beach

Subway

Subway routeA – EA

A

A

A

E

E

J2

J2

AE

New York Penn(downtown NY)

Secaucus JCT

Terminal 2/3

Terminal C

Newark

Newark Liberty International Airport

Newark

JFK

Terminal B

NJTNJT

NJT

Amtrak/ NJT

Amtrak/ NJT

LIRR

LIRR

Terminal A

Terminal 4

Terminal 5/6

Terminal 7Terminal 8/9

Federal Circle

Jamaica

LIRR/NJT/Amtrak

AirTrain JFK

AirTrain Newark

1) Map not to scale2) Not all subway and railway lines are shown




replace Terminals 8 and 9, and they donot want JFK to be at a competitive rail-link disadvantage.

Newark Liberty InternationalAirport: AirTrain Newark

AirTrain Newark uses an automated,driverless, straddle-type monorail toconnect the airport’s three airlineterminals and several long-term parkinglots in what airport officials call a ‘pinchedloop’ (shaped like the letter C). At the endof 2001, this elevated monorail wasextended about 1.6 km to a newinterchange station constructed onAmtrak’s busy Northeast Corridor (NEC)and adjacent to the airport.Stretching from Boston to New York toWashington DC, the NEC forms the spineof Amtrak’s route system and accounts forabout half of Amtrak’s ridership. The NECis also home to Amtrak’s fastest trains—the Acela Express. The new interchange,dubbed the Rail Link Station (also referredto as Newark International Airport Station)serves both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit(NJT) commuter trains. Space has beenset aside at this station for a proposed newlight-rail line to link the cities of Newarkand Elizabeth in the future.

As with AirTrain JFK, the Port Authoritysought to bring the airport ambience tothe Rail Link Station, again to givetravellers the impression that they havearrived at the airport once they’vereached the station. The station isbrightly lit by skylights by day, featuresattractive architectural finishes andartwork, and has airline check-incounters and luggage check-in facilities.Originally staffed by both ContinentalAirlines and Amtrak, Continental hassince withdrawn their staff.Airline flight information display screensare installed on the monorail platform toenable travellers to know which gate theirflight is departing from before boardingthe monorail.Like AirTrain JFK, platform doors havebeen installed for safety and to provide aclimate-controlled environment at eachstation. While AirTrain JFK stations mustmesh with a variety of airline terminalconfigurations, the configurations of thethree Newark airline terminals are moreconsistent. This allows the AirTrainNewark stations to open directly into theirrespective terminal, providing a completelyclimate-controlled travel environment.Consequently, once a customer arrives byeither Amtrak or NJT during winter and

enters the Rail Link Station, he or she canremove winter jackets and travel to thegate comfortably.For passengers landing at Newark LibertyAirport, and travelling via either Amtrakor NJT, train departure monitors showingboth railway services, and NJT ticketvending machines have been installed atthe entrance to the monorail stationsserving each airline terminal.Like JFK, AirTrain Newark is free betweenairline terminals or between the terminalsand the various parking lots. However,customers transferring from both Amtrakand NJT to the monorail pass through aturnstile at the Rail Link Station where theymust pay a $5.00 surcharge. If an Amtrakor NJT customer has a through ticket, itcan be used on the train as well to passthrough the turnstiles.To travel between New York Penn Stationand Newark Airport by train, customerscan choose between Amtrak and NJT. TheAmtrak through fare starts at $26 (or moredepending upon the time of travel), whileNJT’s through fare is $11.55. The higherAmtrak fare reflects Amtrak’s desire toencourage shorter-distance passengers touse NJT so as to reserve its seating capacityfor longer-distance passengers. The traveltime from New York to the Rail LinkStation is 22 minutes on Amtrak versus21 minutes on NJT. The journey from theRail Link Station to Terminal C (the first ofthe three airline terminals) takes another7 or 8 minutes.Although the monorail consists of six-cartrain sets, the cars are of much smallercapacity than the Tokyo Monorail servingTokyo’s Haneda Airport, or the monorailsin the Japanese cities of Kokura or Chiba.Each six-car train set has a seatedcapacity of 24, and a total seated andstanding capacity of 76 people. Duringairport peak periods, these trains can bequite crowded. When the airportmonorail first opened, airport luggagecarts were prohibited on trains but, inresponse to public comment, luggage

AirTrain Newark monorail (Author)


carts are now allowed on board, furtherreducing the already limited capacity.The public’s desire to bring luggage cartson board influenced the design of thenewer AirTrain JFK system, and shapedboth carriage and station designs at JFK.In terms of intercity and commuter rollingstock, neither Amtrak nor NJT has madeany special provisions to accommodateairport travellers by creating additionalluggage storage space since NEC trains areoften at capacity during peak periods.Service-wise, NJT operates 3 or 4 trainsevery hour between New York City andNewark International Airport duringrailway peak periods. Trains typically stopat Secaucus Junction and Newark withboth stations acting as hubs to provideconnections to other NJT rail lines. Duringoff-peak periods (middle of the day, lateat night and weekends), NJT operates twoor three trains every hour. However,service headways are irregular because‘fleets’ of NJT trains follow in closesequence after one another. For example,the current timetable (at 15 February2004) lists weekend trains departingNewark International Airport for New YorkCity at 13:07, 13:15, and 13:24, thenleaving a large gap of 43 minutes untilthe next batch of trains depart at the sametime points in the following hour. Fortravellers landing at Newark andconnecting to NJT trains, these irregulargaps can create a long wait if an arrivingmonorail should happen to miss the lastof the three connecting NJT trains—not acustomer-friendly situation. If the NJTservices were more evenly spread suchwaiting times could be reduced.Amtrak typically schedules one train everyhour to New York and Washington DC,and most Amtrak customers using AirTrainNewark are travelling to/from longer,intercity destinations along the NEC.Peculiarly, Amtrak’s faster Acela Expresstrains stop at the smaller Baltimore-Washington Airport (which requires ashuttle bus link to the airport), but not at

the busier Newark Liberty InternationalAirport, which is served by Amtrak’sslower Regional trains.Continental Airlines has been one of themost ardent supporters of this rail link. Ithas been very aggressive in promotingAirTrain Newark to its customers viaspecial mailings to frequent fliers,promotional materials in its in-flightmagazine, and distribution of specialt imetables providing step-by-stepinformation on how to get to the airportby train. Just as Lufthansa has elected tocurtail flights between Frankfurt Airportand Köln Bonn Airport, and to shiftcustomers to the recently opened high-speed line via a code-sharing operationfeaturing through air–rail ticketing, so toohas Continental. Continental haspartnered with Amtrak to eliminate certainshort-haul flights in favour of an air–raillink. Continental customers using theseair–rail code-sharing flights can obtainthrough tickets, receive frequent flier milesfor all segments travelled (including therail portion), and first-class travellers caneven use Amtrak’s Club Acela (first class)lounge at Penn Station in New York.Extending the convenience of the airportinto Manhattan, Continental has openeda new ticket window at Penn Station,located between the NJT and Amtrakticket windows. Continental has alsoinstalled a self-service check-in kiosk anddedicated AirTrain departure board toclearly indicate the times of the next trainsto Newark Airport. Thus, rather thanviewing intercity rail as a competitor,Continental has integrated services for themutual benefit of both rail and plane.

San Francisco InternationalAirport: BART

A hybrid between a traditional metro andcommuter rail, Bay Area Rapid Transit(called BART) trains provide rapidregional rail services in the San FranciscoBay Area. Although heavily automated,

each BART train has one train operatoron-board to monitor train performance.The 14.1-km BART extension to SanFrancisco International Airport (SFO)opened in 2003.The BART extension actually consists ofa trunk route that splits into three branches(forming a triangle shape) as it approachesSFO to serve three different functionsdescribed below:• The main route and branch is an

extension from Colma Station via SanBruno Station to a stub end BARTstation at SFO’s International Terminal.This route provides a one-seat ride toSFO from downtown San Franciscoand Oakland. Travel time fromdowntown San Francisco to SFO takesapproximately 30 minutes and therea r e s e v e r a l s t a t i o n s s e r v i n gdowntown San Francisco. Theextension alignment is mostlyunderground to avoid environmentalimpacts. However, such constructionh a s a d d e d c o n s i d e r a b l y t oconstruction costs. To reduce costs,the portion near SFO is elevated. Thisbranch forms the northern leg of thetriangle. SFO has four terminals andBART passengers can either walk tothe nearby terminals or transfer toAirTrain—a free, rubber-tyred,automated, on-airport people-moversystem. Built by Bombardier (themanufacturer of AirTrain JFK), AirTrainlinks each airport terminal, variousairport parking garages and aconsolidated car rental facility.

• A second branch from San BrunoStation to Millbrae forms the westernleg of the triangle. A major, newintermodal station has been built atMillbrae to allow connections tovarious local bus routes and to CalTrain,a commuter railway operating betweenSan Francisco, San Jose and Gilroy.Millbrae is the only interchangebetween BART and CalTrain and is animportant transfer point.




This branch was built because SFOofficials did not want their on-airportBART station to attract commuter cartraffic, commuter demand for parking(competing for airport parking spaces),or ‘kiss and ride’ customer drop-offt raf f ic . The t ravel t ime f romdowntown San Francisco to Millbraeis about 30 minutes.

• A third branch connects MillbraeStation to the International Terminalat SFO—a short 5-minute elevatedBART ride with no intermediatestations. This southern branch of thetriangle of BART tracks near the airportprovides an important link for CalTraincustomers destined for SFO, andreplaced a formerly free-of-chargeshuttle bus that used to connect theCalTrain Millbrae Station with all fourSFO terminals. A $1.50 fare is chargedto ride this branch. Since there is nojoint ticketing between CalTrain andBART, transferring customers mustpurchase a separate BART ticket eitherat Millbrae or SFO—a transaction thatimpedes the transfer when rushing toreach the airport or transfer toCalTrain.

From its 2003 opening to February2004, this branch was operated usinga single BART train providing a shuttles e r v i c e e v e r y 2 0 m i n u t e s .Unfortunately, the infrequent BARTshuttles did not coordinate well withCalTrain’s main-line service. CalTrain’soff-peak service operates every 30 to60 minutes, so a missed connection toCalTrain could mean a lengthy waituntil the next train. The prospect ofmissed connections and potentiallylengthy transfer times has reduced theattractiveness of this service andridership has been very light.BART has eliminated the shuttle sinceFebruary 2004. To provide serviceover this branch during peak hours,BART extended its San Francisco toMillbrae trains to continue onwardinto SFO at 15-minute intervals—anincrease of one train every peak hour.During off-peak hours, a differentservice pattern is operated betweenMillbrae and SFO. BART has reroutedSan Francisco-to-SFO trains tocontinue past the airport to serveMillbrae and trains run every 15 to20 minutes. Both revised routes

require BART trains to reversedirections at one intermediate station,increasing station dwell and traveltimes at the penultimate stations.As with the commuter trains servingthe New York City airports, BARTtrains do not provide additionalluggage storage racks, althoughcustomers on BART and in New Yorkare welcome to place their luggage inthe spacious wheelchair tie-downareas when those areas are not in use.With the opening of BART’s SFOextension, Bay Area travel and tradeprofessionals have actively promotedthe new airport rail link in an effort tomake the region more competitivenationally in attracting conventions,large group meetings and tourists.Indeed, many US cities with airportrail links are increasingly promotingthem to attract new business andleisure travellers and to provide aviable public-transport alternative toroad-based travel.

Portland InternationalAirport: MAX

In September 2001, Portland’s highly

Former BART shuttle train between SFO and Millbrae at SFO soon after extension opening in 2003. This lightlyused shuttle has since been replaced with recast train services. Note the confusing sign implying that CalTrainprovides service between SFO and Millbrae! (Author)

BART and CalTrain in San FranciscoBay Area

CalTrain

CalTrain

Pittsburg

Richmond

BART

BART

BART

Coliseum/ Oakland AirportOakland

Airport

Oakland (downtown)San Francisco

(downtown)San Francisco

Dublin

Fremont

San Jose

Millbrae

SFO

Colma

BART

CalTrain

Oakland Airport Snuttie Bus


Kenneth Lin

Mr Lin is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and is currently Chief of

Transportation Planning at a major New York City transportation planning, consulting, architectural

and engineering firm. After obtaining a Masters degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

he worked as a strategic planning analyst for Long Island Rail Road before becoming Deputy Director

of the New York City Transit Authority for 8 years.

popular MAX light-rail trains wereextended about 9 km from the GatewayTransi t Center to serve Por t landInternational Airport (PDX). Operated byTri-Met, MAX is the marketing name for a61-km regional light-rail network and isan acronym for Metropolitan AreaeXpress. Each MAX train has one operatorand is composed of either one or two light-rail vehicles (LRVs). Low-floor LRVs areused for the airport service. No specialluggage racks are provided but passengerscan put their luggage in the bicycle orwheelchair tie-down areas.To serve the airport, Tri-Met established anew Red Line service that operates every15 minutes during the MAX service times(05:30 to 23:30). Serving four newintermediate stations, the Red Line serviceprovides a reliable, consistent travel timeof about 40 minutes between PDX anddowntown Portland.Standard MAX fares of $1.60 are chargedto ride the airport service but the fare canbe reduced by purchasing either multiplerides or a variety of time-based passes.An interesting aspect of the airportextension has been the proactiveinvolvement of a private developer(Bechtel Enterprises/CascadeStationDevelopment Company, LLC) to helpfund the extension. Bechtel Enterprisesapproached Portland officials and offeredto help pay for the airport link inexchange for property development rightsto 48.6 ha of land at the entrance to theairport. Bechtel contributed about 20%of the cost of the airport extension and isplanning a 15-year build out of a newhigh-density, transit-oriented, mixed-usedevelopment called CascadeStation. Thisdevelopment aims to create new offices,hotels, conference facilities, retail outlets,entertainment facilities (eventuallycreating approximately 11,000 jobs)utilizing its proximity to PDX to attractnew businesses and customers whilefeeding new customers to the Red Line.

MAX Light-rail train at Portland Airport (Author)

Looking Ahead

Today, the desire for additional airport raillinks has brought forth proposals forseveral new links. They span the countryand range from a new light-rail line toserve SEA-TAC airport in Seattle,Washington, to a high-speed rail lineconnecting Orlando International Airport

MAX Network

Portland International

Columbia River

Willamette River

Portland downtown

in Florida to Disney World and on toTampa. The continued interest inconstructing new airport rail links stemsfrom the recognition that airports shouldbe served by high-quality, rapid, reliablepublic transportation and that airportsshould also be integrated into the groundtransportation network. �

making new connections: airport rail links in the united ...source of employment in many cities. •...

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