AIRPORT VOICE, JUNE 2019 23
Port Authority
sustainability
Outlines seven areas of priority
British Airways pop-up ride
Random travelers win RT tickets
British Airways in its continuing
rebranding and effort to attract
new customers, ran a interactive
one day promotion.
The “Get in to Win” event
consisted of a classic London
black cab decked out in the British
flag cruising the Flatiron
district. Passengers who hailed
the cab were surprised inside
by a British Airways Ambassador
who asked them a series of
fun British-themed questions.
Passengers were then asked if
they could change their weekend
plans to leave for a fun, fast, and
free weekend in London the very
next day. A hidden camera inside
the cab captured the delighted reactions
of the passengers as they
played along with the Ambassador,
and their excitement at winning
the free weekend trip. No
one left the cab empty handed —
everyone who played received at
least a $100 off a future trip with
British Airways. travelers were
given free round-trip weekend
travel to London.
The Port Authority has
placed sustainability and environmental
protection as one of
its guiding priorities along with
safety and security, a revitalized
capital plan, 21st century
customer experience, and operational
excellence.
The seven priority areas are:
1.Clean Electric Vehicles – all
36 of our airport shuttle buses
will be electric by the end of
next year (12 are already in service).
We are also electrifying
our f leet vehicles, with a goal of
converting at least 50% of our
light duty fleet to electric vehicles
over the next four years – a
minimum of 600 to 750 vehicles.
2.Energy Efficiency – We
have begun a $100 million program
to improve energy efficiency,
through a series of energy
and water conservation
projects, across our facilities.
3.Solar Energy and Other
Renewable Sources – We are
working with private partners,
through Power Purchase Agreements,
to construct solar installations
across our facilities and
a fuel cell at One World Trade
Center.
4.Building Green Facilities
- Sustainable design is a key element
of all of our current facility
redevelopments, in particular
the $25 billion worth of our
airport redevelopment projects.
5. Incentivizing Facility Users
to Go Green – We have continued
our clean vessel incentive
program, our truck replacement
program, and we are intent on
working with operators at our
airports and marine terminals
to electrify their ground support
and cargo handling equipment.
6.Offshore Wind – We are actively
engaged with NY and NJ
to determine how our port facilities
can best support their collective
goals of 12.5 Gigawatts of
wind energy by 2035.
7.Partnerships to Facilitate
Collective Action – We have
partnered with 6 organizations
thus far to coordinate on GHG
reduction strategies and identify
additional opportunities.
Airport Voice will cover
these seven areas in more detail
in future issues.
Airports tech drives innovation
Choice of tools is key to success
BY CHRISTIAN BUGISLAUS CARSTENS
MARKETING MANAGER AT BLIPTRACK
Air traveller numbers are growing
globally, presenting some unique
challenges, beyond merely making
sure airports are large enough to accommodate
them.
Technology offers some exciting
solutions, like sensors and cameras,
to understand passenger volume
and flow. However, selecting the
right solution can be challenging,
as no single technology can meet all
measurement requirements. Also,
an airport’s existing environment
must be considered when choosing
a system that both meets current
needs and is easily scalable for future
demands.
Technology can be costly to install,
and there is a direct correlation
between numbers, cost, and
lead-time. Therefore, minimizing
installations while maintaining
high accuracy is crucial.
Making the right choice
It is essential to make the right
choice and start with the desired
outcome, rather than the technology,
or the accuracy of the data it
promises to deliver. For example, an
airport could strive to provide wait
time
information to passengers, or
better match capacity with demand
at the right times. Once the desired
outcomes have been identified, the
next step is to define what data is
needed to achieve them. While cost
and efficiency considerations cannot
be ignored, it is important to clarify
the levels of accuracy required to
make the right decisions. In identifying
challenges and outcomes, it
is also critical to understand both
the individual, isolated airport processes
and to get clarity on their interdependence.
It can be tempting to
focus on a single pinch point, such as
check-in, security or border control,
without understanding its effect on
others, or how it, in turn, is affected.
Following a global trend there
are many emerging passenger flow
technologies available, from mobile
device tracking to camera-based solutions.
According to SITA, 77% of
airports will have business intelligence
initiatives for queue management
by the end of 2019. The question
is: which technology is the most effective
for the issues that need to be
solved?
Camera and Wifi/Bluetooth
Sensor are examples of technology
emerging at airports. New 3D
camera solutions provide an unparalleled
level of accuracy for people
counting and dwell-time statistics,
offering a detailed picture
of wait times per processing point.
However, cameras are unsuitable
for measuring how people move
through multiple processes, as they
struggle with gaps in coverage and
are easily influenced by changing
environmental conditions like lighting
and physical obstacles.
WiFi/BLE/Bluetooth sensor solutions
are ideal for measuring airport
wide flow, queue and dwell time
through multiple processing points
by detecting passengers’ mobile devices.
They are, however, unsuitable
for people-counting.
The combination of the requirements
to the data and the physical
environment will point towards a
given solution. Often a combination
of technologies is the most accurate
and cost-effective solution. Choosing
a sensor agnostic solution will allow
for use of the best data-acquisition
technologies on the market.
Local agencies are adopting the
technology. In 2018, the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)
adopted the Veovo BlipTrack
queue management solution, which
combines multiple sensors, to measure
and display wait times at TSA
security checkpoint and taxi stands
at JFK, Newark, LaGuardia and
Stewart Airports. The goal was twofold:
first, to provide accurate wait
time information to manage passenger
expectations; second to enable
the airports to develop strategies
and to target resources to reduce
wait times.
“With this real-time data posted
on each of the airport’s websites and
screens at the terminals, wait times
are now readily available to help reduce
passenger stress and enable
travellers to plan based on the wait
times they will encounter,” said Port
Authority Executive Director Rick
Cotton.
One customer experience executive
at a Midwest airport at said that
not only has Veovo reduced complaints,
but they’ve also been able to
use the collected data to recommend
TSA staffing adjustments, resulting
in a reduction in processing times
by one-third.
Taking an approach that supports
and utilizes data from several
sources, maximizing the advantages
of independent technologies and their
strengths, provides a solution that is
economically viable and scalable,
delivering the desired outcome. The
airport will be more adaptable when
adjusting to variable ceiling heights,
lighting conditions, expansions and
so on, which means fewer redundant
installations, and reduced costs.
Creating a low-stress, predictable
experience for passengers
will always play in the airport’s favor.
Shorter queues, predicted wait
times, and more efficient processing
really can make for a seamless,
pleasant and memorable airport experience.