Airport landside congestion has become a pressing issue at many U.S. commercial airports.  This congestion affects not only an airport’s landside efficiency, but often overall operational efficiency.  Conventional strategies for mitigating landside congestion, including parking fees, staffed ground transportation dispatchers, traffic control officers, ground transportation contractual requirements, and time-limited restrictions, appear to offer limited benefit.  Congestion pricing, which involves imposing fees on drivers entering the airport premises or certain congested zones (e.g., terminal curbs) may offer a potential solution.  While such programs have yet to be implemented at U.S. airports, some have begun exploring their use.  Successful implementation of congestion pricing will require a systematic process to gather relevant data, engage stakeholders, and develop recommendations for implementation that ensure equity and meet the long-term objectives of the pricing program.

The objectives of this research are to review congestion pricing measures, examine their feasibility for implementation in an airport setting, and develop guidelines for their implementation in a manner suitable to local airport conditions.