Improving public transportation to Boston Logan International Airport

Abstract

Boston Logan International Airport is the largest airport in New England and the 1 9 th busiest airport in the United States, serving 29.3 million passengers (arrivals and departures) in 2012. There are approximately 36,900 inbound air passenger trips and 9,000 inbound employee trips to Logan Airport daily. As a result of the limited parking supply at Logan Airport (parking is capped at 20,938 spaces by the Department of Environmental Protection's parking freeze), physical capacity constraints, limited roadway capacity and congestion on airport roadways, it is critical to improve public transportation to Logan Airport to increase the transit mode share. This study evaluates how public transportation to Logan Airport can be improved with particular consideration of travel demand market segments, the user friendliness of the services, the needs and jurisdiction of stakeholder agencies (Massport, the MBTA and MassDOT), existing transportation and land use plans within the study area and user and agency costs. A review of existing travel demand to Logan Airport and the operation of existing transit services is provided, leading to an assessment of potential improvements. The major potential areas of improvement analyzed in this paper are airport signage, wayfinding and curbside layout, Massport public transportation services (such as the airport shuttles and Logan Express bus service), potential new vehicle technologies for the Silver Line, operational improvements to the Silver Line, infrastructure improvements at D Street and the South Boston Transitway, and future transit connections to Worcester and Chelsea. The main areas where Massport, MassDOT and the MBTA should invest their resources in the short-term to improve public transportation to Logan Airport are: - Decreasing the running time of the Silver Line through operational improvements and infrastructure upgrades at D Street and the Transitway - Providing free outbound trips for the Silver Line, Blue Line and Logan Express - Improving the ease of transferring to transit at Logan Airport - Introducing new transit services to Chelsea and Worcester.