Reducing Excessive Dwell Time of Airport Queueing Lot Users at O’Hare International Airport

ABSTRACT Queues are a natural occurrence in the everyday lives of consumers and the process of every business. In general, traffic-free curbside pickup is desirable to ensure positive passenger experience and increase airport efficiency. The current difficulties of getting to O’Hare’s terminals 1, 2, and 3 pickup areas during periods of high demand can be partly attributed to queueing lots not being used efficiently. As such, strategies to facilitate proper functioning of queueing lots are very important to reduce excessive dwell time at curbside-pickup. This study sought answers to how the TNC and Cell Phone lots system operate at O’Hare, where queuing and pickup occur at O’Hare and what estimated average time is to be leaving a lot, picking up arrival passengers and leaving the terminal respectively. The study explored questions by employing mixed methods to understand; the queuing lot system and its operation, behaviours of lot users and ways to improve queueing lot operations, and to examine the influence of excessive congestion on curb-side pickup dwell time at O’Hare’s terminals T1, T2, and T3. Questionnaires were administered to TNC and Cell Phone lot users and several field observations were carried out at different hours in different days to understand dwell time situations at lots and pickup areas. The results revealed that, during peak hours, queueing lot users traveling from their respective lots tend to experience high vehicular traffic that builds up from immediate intersection of arrival and departure roadways to the terminal pickup zones. Also, congestion situation at curb-side left every user to experience longer dwell time, and unreliable queueing lot service as their critical challenges to terminal pick-up zones. The situation is further worsened by the on-going remodulation of pick-up areas at lower levels at terminals 1,2, and 3 as it reduced service capacity. The study recommended, the need to integrate queueing lots as traveling plazas by improvising basic amenities and services at respective lots. The impacts of these improvisions could be tested in feasibility studies leading to queueing lot system improvement at O’Hare Airport.