External benefits of smart payment tools for airport train services

Smart cities are characterised, among other things, by high levels of connectivity and relative availability of transport services. In this respect, airports play a crucial role as they provide a dense network of connections among major cities. While there is abundant literature on the social and economic impacts of airports and air transport operations in general, relatively less attention has been paid on the importance of connections between airports and the surrounding territory. Very often, and especially for major airports and hubs, the connection between the terminals and the city is secured by trains. In this paper, we propose a welfare analysis of the adoption of smart payment tools for trains serving airports. In particular, we focus on the possibility for passengers to pay with contactless cards, that is to use credit cards as sort of dematerialised tickets, instead of queuing at ticket desks or selling machines. This new tool has the advantage to save time and may induce individuals to use the train, with consequential benefits in terms of reduction in external costs. We conclude our paper with a broader policy discussion regarding the role of smart payment for transport services and associated business models

Stakeholder engagement and asset management: a case study of the Gold Coast airport, Queensland

One of the fastest growing industries – aviation – faces serious and compounding challenges in maintaining healthy relationships with community stakeholders. One area in aviation creating community conflict is noise pollution. However, current understandings of the factors that affect noise annoyance of the community are poorly conceptualized. More importantly, the way community needs and expectations could be incorporated in airport governance has been inadequately framed to address the issue of aircraft noise. This paper proposes the util-ity of adopting an integrated strategic asset management (ISAM) framework [1] to explore the dynamic nature of relationships between and airport and its surrounding area. The case of the Gold Coast Airport (OOL) operator and community stakeholders is used. This paper begins with an overview of the ISAM framework in the context of airport governance and sustainable development – as a way to find a balance between economic opportunities and societal concerns through stakeholder engagement. Next, an exploratory case study is adopted as a method to explore the noise-related complaints, complainants, and possible causes. Fol-lowing this, the paper reviews three approaches to community stakeholder engagement in Australia, Japan, and UK and discusses their implications in the con-text of OOL. The paper concludes with a contention that airport governance is likely to be much more effective with the adoption of ISAM framework than without it