ELASTICITY OF AIR TRAVEL DEMAND WITH RESPECT TO AIRPORT ACCESS COST

This paper sets forth the hypothesis that air travel demand is elastic with respect to airport access costs and that the distance of an airport from the city it serves has an impact on the volume of passenger traffic at the airport. As a test case, Houston's traffic with 50 city pairs is analyzed before the closing of Hobby Airport (23 miles from downtown). It was found that short-haul traffic (under 200 Miles) fell dramatically when passengers had to travel the longer distance to the new airport. Total trip cost (in 1968 constant dollars) is calculated for each pair, and the traffic loss for each city pair is estimated. From these figures, a range of elasticities is obtained. Applications for future airport planning are also discussed. /Author/

• Corporate Authors:

  Pergamon Press, Incorporated

  Maxwell House, Fairview Park
  Elmsford, NY  United States  10523
• Authors:
  • Bower, L L
• Publication Date: 1976-4

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 193-199
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research /UK/
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Pergamon Press, Incorporated

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airport access; Airport planning; Costs; Landside capacity; Mechanical elasticity; Passengers; Short haul; Traffic volume; Travel demand; Trip length
• Identifier Terms: Houston Hobby Airport
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Finance; Freight Transportation; Passenger Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00139614
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 16 1976 12:00AM