Probability-Based Method to Support Airport Curbside Level of Service Studies

: Air transportation industry is challenged to address airport curbside delay problem that affects landside service quality and can potentially impact check-in operation. Methodological advances guided by industry requirements are needed to support curbside improvement studies. Existing methods require verification of assumptions prior to application or need expensive surveys to acquire data for use in microsimulations. A probability-based macrosimulation method is advanced for the evaluation of level of service and capacity of the curbside processor. Following problem definition and literature review, the theoretical foundation of the method is described as the simulation of the stochastic balance of demand and available curb space for unloading/loading task. The method meets the planning and operation requirements with ability to analyse conditions commonly experienced at the curb area. Example applications illustrate the flexibility of the method in evaluating existing as well as planned facilities of diverse designs and sizes. The developed method can contribute to curbside processor delay reduction and due to the macroscopic nature of the method, the data requirements can be met by an airport authority without costly surveys.