Baggage Buggies - The Boon or Bane of APM Systems?

Baggage carts are increasingly appearing in most major airports and intermodal rail stations. This trend toward baggage cart use is especially relevant as the burgeoning terminal facilities increase the distances that travelers are required to walk, the same factors that are increasing the use of APM systems to serve airport and intermodal circulation functions. This paper explores the factors that are driving the desire of terminal operators to allow baggage carts to pass through the APM system, and the resulting complications to APM system design and operations. The aspects of customer service versus capacity reduction and safety are discussed. Issues such as vertical circulation, station facility design, location and placement of carts onboard trains, door width and automated operations, and stanchion locations are discussed. Case studies are described of APM baggage cart policy and observations at Gatwick and Newark International Airports. The precedent of new APM systems now being designed and the airport's associated consideration of allowing baggage carts on the system are then be addressed for the San Francisco, New York Kennedy, Miami and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airports.