Environmental Factors in Passenger Terminal Design

A passenger terminal may be visualized as a local subsystem within a larger regional system that exists to support the needs of society. The local terminal subsystem has external effects related to its impact on the community and regional system, and internal affects related to its impact on the user. Internal and external environmental design elements also tend to overlap in some areas. Esthetics is an example of an element which has both internal user impacts and external community impacts. The primary elements of the external terminal environment are land use, the efficiency and configuration of the terminal's access systems, its esthetic and socioeconomic impact on the community, and its effects on the health, tranquility and natural ecology of the surrounding area. Internal environmental design elements are comprised of both objective and subjective factors including service standards, traffic characteristics, visual design, patron services, comfort and convenience, and maintainability.